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THE 

COLLECTED 

WORKS 

OP 

MAHATMA 

GANDHI 

xc 

( 1947 - 1948 ) 




THE 


COLLECTED 

WORKS 

OF 


MAHATMA 

GANDHI 

VOLUME NINETY 



THE PUBLICATIONS DIVISION 


THE 

COLLECTED 

WORKS 

OP 

MAHATMA 

GANDHI 

xc 

( 1947 - 1948 ) 








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THE COLLECTED WORKS OF 
MAHATMA GANDHI 


XC 

(November 11, 1947 -January 30, 1948) 














THE COLLECTED WORKS OF 

MAHATMA GANDHI 


xc 

(November 11, 1947 -January 30, 1948) 





THE PUBLICATIONS DIVISION 
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting 
Government of India 



April 1984 ( Vaisakha 1906 ) 


© Navajivan Trust, Ahmedabad, 1984 


COPYRIGHT 

By Kind Permission of Navajivan Trust, Ahmedabad 


PUBLISHED BY THE DIRECTOR, THE PUBLICATIONS DIVISION 
NEW DELHI-110 001 

AND PRINTED IN INDIA BY JITENDRA THAKOREBHAI DESAI 
NAVAJIVAN PRESS, AHMEDABAD-380 014 





Prime Minister 
India 

FOREWORD 

Mahatma Gandhi once wrote, as a warning to those disci- 
ples who placed more store by his word than his spirit: “My 
writings should be cremated with my body. What I have done 
will endure, not what I have said or written.” But he was one 
of those who spoke as he thought and acted as he spoke, one 
of those few in whom no shadow fell between word and deed. 
His words were deeds, and they built a movement and a nation 
and changed the lives of countless individuals. 

That is why the Government of India decided to collect and 
publish everything that Mahatma Gandhi wrote, and every 
authentic account of what he had said. I am glad that with 
this ninetieth volume the Collected Works series comes to a 
culmination. 

When Gandhiji was assassinated, Jawaharlal Nehru remark- 
ed: “We will not see him again as we have seen him for these 
many years. We will not run to him for advice and seek solace 
from him.” But this set of books will enable us to seek guid- 
ance and solace from a man who showed how to locate and 
nurture the strength within. Through his experiments with the 
power within himself he became a Mahatma. 

Gandhiji warned us against the danger of making a sect 
out of his thought. In reading him we should be guided by 
what he said about his writings: 

My aim is not to be consistent with my previous statements 
on a given question, but to be consistent with truth as it 
may present itself to me at a given moment. The result 
has been that I have grown from truth to truth. . . . My 
words and deeds are dictated by prevailing conditions. There 
has been a gradual evolution in my environment and I re- 
act to it as a Satyagrahi. 



The volumes of the Collected Works provide a record of 
the evolution of one of the greatest men of history; they also 
provide source material on the making of our nation. 

Gandhiji was a great persuader. He took interest in people’s 
problems and tried to bring them around to his point of view. 
Many sought his advice on personal matters. So he spoke and 
wrote incessantly on a variety of subjects: not only eternal values 
like truth and non-violence but practical matters like keeping 
homes and streets clean. 

I wish to place on record my appreciation and that of the 
Government of India of the dedication and competence of 
Professor K. Swaminathan and his team of editors, research 
scholars and staff who have laboured over the last twenty-five 
years to complete this monumental work. 

Camp: Goa, 

November 26, 1983 



(Indira Gan 



ADVISORY BOARD 


The 

Gandhi 

Advisory Board for the Gollected Works 
consists of the following: 

. of Mahatma 

1. 

Morarji Desai 

Chairman 

2. 

Ramlal Parikh 

Member 

3. 

R. R. Diwakar 

Member 

4. 

Jitendra Desai 

Member 

5. 

Joint Secretary 
(In charge of 
Publications Division 
Ministry of Information 
and Broadcasting) 

Member 

6. 

Director 

Publications Division 

Member 

7. 

K. Swaminathan 
Chief Editor 

Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi 

Secretary 
Ex officio 


In the earlier years, the following persons had been mem- 
bers of the Advisory Board: Kaka Saheb Kalelkar, Devdas Gandhi, 
Pyarelal, Maganbhai P. Desai, Ramdhari Sinha “Dinkar”, G. 
Ramachandran, Shantilal H. Shah, Jivanji Desai, Thakorebhai 
Desai, P. M. Lad, I.C.S., and Shriman Narayan. 



EDITORIAL STAFF 


At present, the editorial staff consists of: 

Chief Editor 

K. Swaminathan 

Deputy Chief Editors 
A. A. Shiromany 
J. P. Uniyal 

Deputy Director 

L. S. Rengarajan 

Assistant Editors 

M. Koteswara Rao 
G. T. Munshi 

(Mrs) Satyawati Bhargava 
V. G. Mathur 
(Mrs) Lalitha Zackariah 
(Mrs) Nirmala Subramanian 
(Mrs) Rama Misra 
(Mrs) Anjani Bhushan 
(Mrs) Usha Kiran Goel 
(Miss) Sneh Rai 

Consultant 

C. N. Patel 

The project started in 1956 with Dr. Bharatan Kumarappa 
as its first Chief Editor. On his demise in 1957, Mr. Jairam- 
das Doulatram was appointed Chief Editor. He resigned in 
October, 1959 and Professor K. Swaminathan took over as Chief 
Editor in February, 1960. 

In the recent past, the following had worked as Deputy 
Chief Editors and/or Editors: U. R. Rao, Bhawani Prasad 
Mishra, Anandilal Tiwari, C. N. Patel, K. N. Vaswani, G. D. 
Gadre, (Mrs) Lakshmi Tripathi, R. N. Tivary, S. K. Sundar 
and A. N. Singh. 

Earlier, the following had served as Editors or Translators 
for various periods: R. K. Prabhu, M. K. Desai, S. C. Dixit, 
Ratilal Mehta, N. K. Desai, P. G. Deshpande, Madho Prasad, 
Ram Singh, P. R. Kaikini, Govind Vyas and C. L. Narasimhan. 



[ix] 

Assistant Editors who had worked in the past include: 
Shrinath Singh, Parashuram Mehrotra, Hasmukh Shah, Jaipal 
Nangia, Dr. V. B. Gangal, O. P. Sharma, Sangam Lai, S. Sri- 
vastava, G. S. Mobile, (Mrs) Urmila Kataria, (Miss) Rasik Shah, 
(Miss) M. B. Laher, V. G. Nesarikar, (Mrs) Bharati Narasimhan, 
A. Padmanabhan, (Mrs) Shyama Malhotra, M. V. Rajwadi, B. K. 
Ahluwalia, D. K. Rai, Hari Shankar Sharma, R. P. Dhasmana, 
Rama Nath Shastri, (Mrs) Rajani Aucharmal, P. J. Menon and 
(Mrs) V. Kanakadurgamba. 

The above staff have been assisted by a large and com- 
petent team of Research Assistants, Reference Assistants and 
Sub-Editors at various stages in the work of collection, research, 
translation, editing and production. 




PREFACE 


This volume covers the last eighty-one days of Gandhiji’s 
life, from November 11, 1947 to January 30, 1948, the fateful 
Friday, when martyrdom mercifully ended his prolonged agony 
as he witnessed the fires of hatred burning fierce on both sides of 
the country’s new Western border. In fulfilment of his vow to 
“ do or die”, to establish peace in Delhi or perish in the attempt, 
he undertook on January 13 a fast which did have a cleansing 
effect on most people in both countries, but which roused the 
resentment of a few fanatics who promptly put out the light that 
hurt their eyes. Then the whole world passed through a moment 
of hushed silence, the “calm of mind, all passion spent”, which 
follows any profound aesthetic experience. This perfect end to a 
life which was a perfect poem, composed of deeds, not words, 
lifted the protagonist from Indian history to world mythology 
where human imagination (in Coleridge’s phrase) repeats in time 
and space “the eternal act of creation in the Infinite I AM”. 
The Kavi and the Kapi merged; the Mahatma became Hanuman, 
the servant through Time of the Eternal Master. 

The volume indeed reads like the last act of a Greek tragedy, 
with Gandhiji playing the double role of hero and chorus, the 
bird that eats the fruit and the bird that looks on, till the Pre- 
sident of the Immortals pulls some string and stills the moving 
music into synchronic silence. 

In a convocation address on December 13, 1947 Nehru said: 
“Freedom came to us, our long-sought freedom, with a minimum 
of violence. But immediately afterwards we had to wade through 
oceans of blood and tears . . . Horror piled on horror and a sudden 
emptiness seized us. . . . The lights seemed to go out. But one 
bright flame continued to burn and shed its light on the sur- 
rounding gloom. And looking at that bright, pure flame, strength 
and hope returned to us . . . There was the Spirit of India, strong 
and unsullied, rising above the turmoil of the present . . . during 
the past four months, in a dissolving world, he has been like a 
rock of purpose and a lighthouse of truth”. 

The volume opens with Gandhiji’s speeches on Diwali, the 
festival of lights, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. 
Using the myth for interiorizing the historical situation and its 
moral imperative, Gandhiji reminds his hearers that all men, 
even Rama and Ravana, are brothers, that Rama is the light 



[xii] 

divine within each human heart and Ravana the darkness which 
is but deliberate denial or forgetfulness of that light. It is within 
each human heart that the great war between good and evil is 
being perpetually waged. The paramount need, then, was to keep 
alive “the light of love within”. The Diwali festival would be 
celebrated in truth only when all the Muslims who had fled in 
fear were brought back (pp. 18-9). 

While humbly admitting his failure to understand the work- 
ing of ahimsa (pp. 2-3 and 34), Gandhiji never lost his faith in 
God and in the power of His Name, which gave him a peace 
transcending his mental agony. This faith sustained his strength 
as he struggled with patience beyond measure to save India’s 
humanity (pp. 37, 82, 101 and 273). In prayer speeches and 
in talks with visitors and with refugees in their camps, he 
urged Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims alike to shed anger and hatred, 
reminding them of the common human proneness to “commit 
mistakes” and also of the need and the ability “to forgive and 
forget” (p. 52). Admitting that the Muslim League started the 
mischief long before August 15, 1947 and that Pakistan’s sins 
were “terrible enough”, he told the Hindus and Sikhs that by 
copying the sin they had become “fellow-sinners” (pp. 99 and 123) 
and that confession of one’s guilt “purifies and uplifts” (p. 228). 
He spoke again and again of reported atrocities against Muslims 
in Jammu, Junagadh and elsewhere, even at the risk of his re- 
marks being exploited in Pakistan (pp. 115, 117-9, 140-3 and 169). 

With Indian Muslims he was gentler but not less frank. He 
wanted them to acknowledge their part in bringing about the 
tragedy and to atone for it. He told them, “I shall never advise 
you to go away from here. . . . you should stay, for India is your 
home. And if your brethren should kill you, you should bravely 
meet death” (p. 154). 

In Calcutta where Suhrawardy had shown such heroic courage 
and faced the angry Hindus, a miracle had been possible. But in 
Delhi there was no responsible Muslim who could approach the 
Hindus “if only to die”; even the nationalist Muslims had “lost 
this strength” (pp. 23-4). Nevertheless he looked forward to the 
day when “all those who had been driven away from their hearths 
and homes would return . . . and resume their avocations in per- 
fect security and peace as before” (p. 262). That Hindus and 
Muslims could not co-exist was a “poisonous doctrine” which he 
pledged himself to resist and to do or die in the attempt (p. 222). 

Gandhiji had to do some plain speaking in the Congress 
Working Committee and the A. I. C. G. which represented “the vast 



[ xiii ] 

ocean of Indian humanity” (p. 38). He told them, “The Muslim 
League indeed is culpable, but not every Muslim. ... it is your 
prime duty to treat Muslims as your brothers, whatever may happen 
in Pakistan” (p. 41). The All-India Congress Committee did pass 
a resolution urging that “every effort should be made to enable the 
evacuees and refugees from either Dominion ultimately to return 
to their homes and to their original occupations under condi- 
tions of safety and security” (pp. 538-9). But its implementation 
required reciprocity and this was not forthcoming from Pakistan. 

Far from responding to this gesture of friendship, Pakistan 
made mutual reconciliation impossible by its cynically one-sided 
approach to the problem of the princely States. In Junagadh it 
readily accepted the Muslim ruler’s accession without reference 
to the will of the people (most of whom were Hindus), but it 
objected to Kashmir’s accession to India, though it was on the 
advice of Sheikh Abdullah and subject to confirmation by the 
people. The Maharaja’s decision was precipitated by the invasion 
of the State by tribesmen, permitted, if not incited, by Pakistan’s 
rulers and later actively supported by its army. The conflicts 
over the two States destroyed whatever chances there might have 
been for a wise and humane solution of the refugees problem. 

For Gandhiji and the Government of India, accession was a 
matter to be decided by the will of the people. Even so, Gandhiji 
was not at all happy over his nephew Shamaldas Gandhi’s role in 
frightening away “the poor little ruler of Junagadh” to Karachi 
instead of winning him over through love (pp. 101-2). 

In Kashmir, Gandhiji would have preferred non-violent mass 
resistance to the Afridis, but in the absence of such moral strength 
in the people, he had to yield “tacit consent” to the Government 
of India’s action in sending the army to defend Kashmir against 
the invaders (p. 511). But once this “righteous war” had been 
won, he would have liked a mutually agreed settlement so that 
“we could live as peaceful neighbours”. Mistakes had been 
made on both sides, but we should not “persist in those mistakes” 
(p. 357). 

The Government of India tried to put pressure on Pakistan, 
and so procure a quick, agreed settlement, by postponing pay- 
ment of the agreed share of the cash balances of undivided India. 
In a statement to the Press on January 12, Sardar Patel explain- 
ed at length the rationale of this decision. However, as a result 
of Gandhiji’s fast beginning on January 13 “in the cause of the 
Muslims” (p. 415), the Indian Cabinet reversed a “settled fact” 
and in order to save Gandhiji’s life and remove a “cause of 



[xiv] 

friction between India and Pakistan”, decided to give immediate 
effect to the agreement about cash balances and to transfer 
Rs. 55 crores to Pakistan’s account (Appendix V, pp. 550-6). 

Like a mother giving bitter pills to her children, Gandhiji 
gave to ministers, constructive workers and over-zealous reformers 
much salutary advice, however harsh it might have sounded at 
the moment. He warned people that freedom was not “suicidal 
anarchy”, that it called for self-sacrifice and self-restraint, for 
everyone thinking of “the whole of India”, not of oneself and 
one’s family alone (p. 86). Refugees should learn to live together, 
should work for and earn their bread, clothing and shelter, keep 
their camps clean and “build ideal cities” (pp. 84 and 186). Since 
controls encouraged laziness and corruption (which was even 
worse than violence), they should be removed so that the millions 
would learn to be far-sighted, “by making mistakes and rectifying 
them” (p. 197). In a democracy, government should trust the 
people and educate them in and through the exercise of freedom 
(p. 344). “Real democracy people learn not from books, not 
from the government who are in name and in reality their ser- 
vants. Hard experience is the most efficient teacher in democracy” 
(p. 399). Gandhiji had unbounded faith in the inborn goodness 
of the common people and their capacity to learn. For the com- 
munal disturbances he held others, intellectuals and leaders, re- 
sponsible, not the common people (pp. 83 and 248). People should 
be educated in freedom so that they could “keep the ministers on 
their toes” (p. 391). A good government should ensure both 
freedom and welfare and thus promote “the largest good of the 
people with the minimum of controls” (p. 325). 

While busily engaged in containing and quenching the fire 
raging round him, Gandhiji never lost sight of the ultimate goal 
of building a better India on the secure foundation of self-reliant 
citizens in prosperous villages. He asserted that future govern- 
ments (whether Congress, Socialist or Communist) would, after 
stumbling in attempts to compete with America or Russia, realize 
the truth that India had no option “except to develop village 
industries” (p. 57). On December 11 and 12 he called a meeting 
of various constructive work organizations and told them that 
“the social order of our dreams cannot come through the 
Congress of today”, that the task of the constructive workers was 
to “improve our national character”, that with imagination and 
intellect these institutions could be forged into “instruments for 
the building up of democracy”, and that this aim could be achieved 
only if they kept away from the competition for political power 



[xv] 

(pp. 215-23). Renunciation of power was the prerequisite for 
the development of soul-force or the power of love. Compassion 
was the root of dharma, and its outward expression was 
loving service of the common people, and its fruit was spiritual 
authority strong enough to prevail over temporal power. Indeed, 
the weapon of satyagraha could be effective only in the hands of a 
“man of God” who “renders unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, 
but who knows how to deal with the usurpation if Caesar 
forgetting his limits oversteps them” (p. 119). 

In the flames of hatred raging round him Gandhiji saw, not 
the failure of ahimsa, but his own failure to understand and apply 
the truth behind ahimsa. In a letter to Karl Struve he humbly 
confessed that he had not “exhibited any heroic and demon- 
strable” non-violence in himself as yet (p. 337). On January 1, 
he wrote to a friend that the peace in Delhi was only from fear 
of the police. “There is fire in people’s hearts. That fire must 
either consume me or must be extinguished” (p. 339). On 
January 4, he wrote: “Everything about me is uncertain. But I 
am moving towards light” (p. 353). On January 8, he wrote: 
“There is still much fire smouldering. One cannot say when it 
may not leap into flames” (p. 383). Some Maulanas of Delhi 
saw him on January 11 and one of them asked for help to enable 
them to go away to England. Gandhiji had no answer to give 
them (p. 422). In his prayer speech that evening, he pleaded: 
“. . . we must forget that we are Hindus or Sikhs or Muslims 
or Parsis. ... we must be only Indians. It is of no consequence 
by what name we call God in our homes. In the work of the 
nation, all Indians of all faiths are one. . . . We are Indians and 
we must lay down our lives in protecting Hindus, Muslims, 
Parsis, Sikhs and all others” (pp. 403-4). 

For days he had been brooding over his “impotence” to 
give the right answer to the Muslim friends who had sought his 
guidance. The final conclusion flashed upon him on the after- 
noon of the 12th and it made him happy. Without consulting 
anyone, not even Nehru or Patel, who had called on him a cou- 
ple of hours earlier, he drafted a statement to be read out at 
the prayer meeting in the evening, announcing the commence- 
ment of an indefinite fast the following day. This was his answer 
to the Maulanas. The fast was to quicken conscience, not deaden 
it, to turn the searchlight inwards and seek self-purification. 
“No man, if he is pure, has anything more precious to give than 
his life. I hope and pray that I have that purity in me to justify 
the step” (p. 409). 



[xvi] 

The step was indeed justified as it evoked the right response 
from all quarters. Numerous telegrams from Pakistan as well as 
India conveyed assurances of communal amity. On the 16th, 
the Government of India announced the decision to release forth- 
with the cash balances due to Pakistan. On the 17th, leaders of 
all communities, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, met in Delhi and 
on the 18th a hundred representatives of various organizations 
called on Gandhiji with a joint statement pledging themselves 
to fulfil the conditions he had laid down for breaking the fast. 
Satisfied at last, he said, “. . . till today our face was turned to- 
wards Satan, we have now resolved to turn towards God” (p. 
446). Then the fast was broken. 

Even during this ordeal Gandhiji retained his detachment 
and sense of humour. He wrote to Mirabehn that his meal 
consisted of 8 oz. of hot water “sipped with difficulty” and he took 
several such “poison-tasting but nectar-like” meals. “Yet I claim 
to be fasting and credulous people accept it” (p. 430). Among 
these credulous people, strangely enough, were two famous for- 
mer critics of fasting as a method of coercion. This time Arthur 
Moore of The Statesman and Nehru himself went on a sympathe- 
tic fast. 

After breaking the fast, Gandhiji wrote to co-workers, “From 
calm I have entered storm” (pp. 454 and 468). In two days it 
became clear what shape the storm would take. During his prayer 
meeting on the 20th a group of angry Hindus made the first 
attempt on his life. Gandhiji did not know at the time that 
it was a bomb explosion. The following evening he adjured his 
listeners not to hate the bomb-thrower. In fact, he pleaded his 
case and cited in his defence a verse from the Gita. “He had 
taken it for granted that I am an enemy of Hinduism” and 
“thinks he has been sent by God to destroy me” (p. 472). 

Deprecating the security measures taken by the Government, 
he told his host G. D. Birla, “. . . it is Rama who protects me . . . 
everything else is futile” (p. 470). As the end drew near, it 
became clear that the oft-repeated mantra “Do or die” had only 
been the sombre, strident counterpoint to the steady, bright, 
basic melody: we are all in the hands of Rama, playthings, 
dancing to the tune He sings, dancing as He pulls the strings 
(pp. 96, 273). 

On January 24, he wrote to a friend, “I am a servant of 
Rama. I will do His work so long as He wills. ... if I have 
been sincere in my pursuit of truth, non-violence, non-stealing, 
hrahmacharya ... I shall certainly be granted the kind of death that 



[ xvii ] 

I seek . . . that should someone kill me I may have no anger against 
the killer . . . and I may die with Ramanama on my lips” (p. 489). 

With such serene faith in Rama, he was busy as usual, dis- 
cussing with co-workers how the Congress could be reorganized 
and made “a strong and efficient instrument of public service and 
of public will” in free India (p. 506). He planned a ten-day visit to 
Sevagram in February to study the “possibility of uniting the vari- 
ous organizations for constructive work into one body . . .” (p. 520). 
To an angry refugee who advised him to retire to the Himalayas, 
he replied, “I want to find peace in the midst of turmoil or I 
want to die in the turmoil. My Himalayas are here” (p. 525). 

On the last day of his life on earth Gandhiji was preoccupied 
with the reported rift between Nehru and Patel. In a long discus- 
sion with Patel from 4 p. m. up to the minute he had to leave 
for the prayer, he told him that the presence of both himself 
and Nehru in the Government was “indispensable” (p. 534). While 
he was busy talking with Patel, some visitors from Saurashtra sent 
in a request for an appointment and received the message: “Tell 
them I shall talk with them during my walk after the prayers, 
if I am alive” (p. 533). 

The last words he uttered were “Hey Ram”. The real Ruler 
of the Universe, whose names are many and whose ways are mys- 
terious, loved his patient servant and would not on the rack of 
this tough world stretch him out longer. 

Gandhiji’ s political legacy, a functioning democracy albeit 
mounted on a rickety machine, was safe in the hands of a team 
of selfless patriots led by Nehru, an idealist with a heart of gold, 
and Patel, a realist with a mind of steel. Friendship with the 
British people was intact and promised to be permanent. Their 
rule had gone, but the use of their language would never go 
(p. 443). 

No such concrete success could be expected for Gandhiji’ s 
larger mission of “spiritualizing” politics and public life. Indeed 
there was for a moment the danger of “politicizing” religion and 
so destroying it. The fast which restored the Hindus to sanity 
averted this danger and was not the least of the Mahatma’s 
services to his mother religion. Right from his early South 
African days, he had continued and carried forward the process of 
purifying and revitalizing the ancient dharma, a process begun 
in South India by Ramalinga Swami and in Bengal by Swami 
Vivekananda. The former was the mentor of the Tamil “coolies” 
whose steadfast faith in dharma opened the eyes of the barrister 
to the integrity of the common people and transformed him into 



[ xviii ] 

a mahatma bound by mutual trust with the masses of India. 
The latter set up Daridranarayana (God in the form of the poor) 
as the living image whose service was the highest sadhana. In a 
letter to Wybergh in 1910 (Vol. X, pp. 247-8), Gandhiji had 
declared that the ideal of mokska, the highest value and the im- 
mediate aim of all mankind, should not be lowered for anyone 
or withheld from anyone. Unbridled “materialism”, the bane of 
modern civilization, did not add one inch to man’s moral stature. 
The reduction of economic and social disparities was most smooth- 
ly effected by the simultaneous satisfaction of the survival needs 
of the poor and the Being needs of the rich. Gandhiji therefore 
asserted that self-realization was “impossible without service of, 
and identification with, the poorest” (Vol. XXXI, p. 511). 
What Gandhiji meant was not relief or charity, but radical re- 
structuring of the present exploitative economic system. 

By thus bringing the light and warmth of dharma to bear 
on artha, Gandhiji did succeed in some measure in breaking 
down the barriers between Brahmin and “untouchable”, between 
the rich elite and the poor masses, between sacred and profane. 
He spread far and wide the faith and the feeling that all life is 
holy, all selves are one and all human beings potentially divine. 
Man was not an ape drunk with Mephistophelean power, but a 
god manque. Life on earth was a constant ascent; the Hindu 
should become a better Hindu, the Muslim a better Muslim, 
the Christian a better Christian and so on (p. 293). 

This Vaishnava dharma, which is the undying poetry of 
earth, lives embodied in Rama and Krishna, gods whom one 
does not fear and obey, but loves as friends and admires as heroes, 
and freely chooses to play with and work for. In this myth, 
metaphysics and morals meet as the beauty of truth in thought 
and deed; like any athlete, artist or mathematician, the devotee 
of Vishnu rejoices as much in discipline as in freedom, and the 
ego wears away in the service of Narayana, who is Goodness, 
Beauty and Truth combined. The wheel of dharma would not let 
the servant rest one moment, but at its still centre there is peace 
for the strong. This too Gandhiji knew: “My God is Formless 
and Faultless and it is He who is giving me strength” (p. 37). 

Identity with others is a felt, though not permanent, expe- 
rience, taken for granted by ordinary people uncorrupted by 
materialism and is comparable to the aesthetic delight in agony 
as in ecstasy. It is not rhetoric, but a reminder of our common 
humanity, when Gandhiji says, “. . . when someone commits a 
crime anywhere I feel I am the culprit. ... If I were to commit 



[xix] 

any crime you should also think that you too were guilty of it. 
Let us all merge in each other like drops of ocean. If the drops 
of ocean remain apart they would dry up” (p. 133). 

The Gita teaching Gandhiji summed up to this effect: This 
whole universe exists in God, and even thieves and tigers are 
ourselves. “It is man’s nature to do good, for all selves are 
one. . . . When this is realized man’s ego melts away” (Vol. 
XXXII, pp. 218 and 280). 

All human beings are thus born friends bound together by 
love and kindness. Hence mutual co-operation is normal, natural 
and necessary in any society where wants and desires are limited 
to legitimate needs. Hatred, distrust, cruelty and war are ugly 
and unnatural, and therefore to be shunned. “Love, otherwise 
ahimsa, sustains this planet of ours” (p. 195). The rule of life 
is friendly co-operation with all. However bad a man may be 
“we must treat him as a friend and work with him. We must 
never under any circumstances treat anyone as an enemy” (pp. 
450-1). Satyagraha is effective because it is a good friend’s delib- 
erate and temporary withdrawal of co-operation in some action 
or policy which is ugly and painful as it tends to disrupt the 
essential unity that binds all human beings. All of us are prone 
to commit sins sometimes, and also prone more often to per- 
form saintly actions. Swadharma consists in responding courageous- 
ly to the call of the Inner Ruler and rising above our usual 
selves. Only so can one realize the ultimate truth through the 
pursuit of beauty in action. “Everybody must act on the prompt- 
ings of his conscience; you, on yours; I, on mine; others, on 
their own; and from that at last truth will come out” (p. 225). 
Inwit, the Inner light, illumining head and heart alike, would 
guide the seeker of Truth from step to step on the path of action. 

If beauty is a means to Truth, so too is utility. If a beauti- 
ful myth moves the heart to heroic action, a lemma, like the as- 
sumption of a separate and surviving self, may well be used to 
support morality. In a letter of 1935, Gandhiji defines realization 
as “pure and selfless service of all living creatures” (Vol. LX, p. 2). 
In another letter he further explains: “For a belief in rebirth, it is 
necessary to believe in the existence of T’. If I do not exist 
and God alone exists, then who is to be reborn and how? This 
realization itself is rebirth, isn’t it? ... When you truly believe . . . 
that ‘God alone exists’, then there is no rebirth for you. The 
man who becomes one with God is liberated. . . . Realization 
comes through the heart. The head can provide only logic. . . . 
Service alone can bring about realization” (Vol. LX, p. 159). 



[xx] 

However much doctrines and theories may differ, all real 
religion . . makes for peace, love and joy in the world. . . . 
science and religion are complementary to each other” (p. 316). 
One’s swadharma is not determined by casuistry, but by the inner 
call to prompt and precise action to relieve tension in human 
relationships. All religions, applied in a “scientific” way to any 
concrete situation, tend to converge and “make for peace, love 
and joy”. A wooden slate-frame gone out of shape could be set 
right by firm, correct handling of the one corner one happens 
to hold (p. 84). 

Taking the utmost responsibility on oneself and conceding 
the utmost freedom to others, feeling and thinking globally and 
acting locally, Gandhiji’s empirical religion reconciles the dual- 
ism of Madhva and Islam, the modified non-dualism of Rama- 
nuja and Christianity and the non-dualism of Sankara and pure 
science. Where people are unconsciously moved to action by the 
poetry of religion, goodness and beauty attend their thoughts, 
words and deeds as naturally as leaves, flowers and fruit come 
to a living tree. It is this humanizing Hinduism with its plura- 
listic world view and non-violent way of life that Gandhiji was 
proud of and claimed to be the universal religion which would 
free the world from all its ills (p. 248) and which would live 
as long as the sun shines in the sky (p. 79). From Man’s 
spiritual element, the ocean of compassion, all religions arise and 
into it again must Islam, Christianity and other streams flow 
back (p. 177). 

The golden age which began with Ramalinga Swami and 
included Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Tagore, Narayan Guru, 
Bharati and Ramana Maharshi, and which ended with Vinoba 
Bhave provided the congenial milieu for Gandhiji’s political and 
social action. It was Gandhiji’s spiritual mission to try and 
harmonize all religions and make multitudes of men and women 
doers of the Word of God instead of being merely its preachers 
and hearers. 



NOTE TO THE READER 

In reproducing English material, every endeavour has been 
made to adhere strictly to the original. Obvious typographical 
errors have been corrected and words abbreviated in the text 
generally spelt out. Variant spellings of names have, however, 
been retained as in the original. 

Matter in square brackets has been supplied by the Editors. 
Quoted passages, where these are in English, have been set up 
in small type and printed with an indent. Indirect reports of 
speeches and interviews, as also passages which are not by Gan- 
dhiji have been set up in small type. In reports of speeches and 
interviews, slight changes and omissions, where necessary, have 
been made in passages not attributed to Gandhiji. 

While translating from Gujarati and Hindi, efforts have been 
made to achieve fidelity and also readability in English. Where 
English translations are available, they have been used with 
such changes as were necessary to bring them into conformity 
with the original. 

The date of an item has been indicated at the top right- 
hand corner; if the original is undated, the inferred date is sup- 
plied within square brackets, the reasons being given where 
necessary. The writings are placed under the date of publication, 
except where they carry a date-line or where the date of writing 
has special significance and is ascertainable. 

In the source-line, the symbol S. N. stands for documents 
available in the Sabarmati Sangrahalaya, Ahmedabad; G. N. 
refers to those available in the Gandhi National Museum and 
Library (Rashtriya Gandhi Sangrahalaya), New Delhi; M. M. U. 
for the reels of the Mobile Microfilm Unit and S. G. for the 
documents of the Sevagram collection, which are also available 
in the Gandhi National Museum and Library. C. W. denotes 
documents secured by the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. 

The Appendices provide background material relevant to the 
text. A list of sources and a chronology for the period covered 
by the volume are also provided at the end. 



A CKJVO WLED GEMENTS 


For material in this volume, we are indebted to the Sabar- 
mati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust and Sangraha- 
laya, the Navajivan Trust and the Gujarat Vidyapith Grantha- 
laya, Ahmedabad; the All India Radio, the Gandhi National 
Museum and Library (Rashtriya Gandhi Sangrahalaya), the 
National Archives of India and the Nehru Memorial Museum 
and Library, New Delhi; Shri Pyarelal, New Delhi; Shri Mani- 
bhai Desai, Uruli-Kanchan; Shri Jivanji D. Desai, Shri Munnalal 
G. Shah, Shri Prabhakar, Smt. Gomatibehn Mashruwala, Bar- 
doli; Shri Narandas Gandhi; Smt. Bapsy Pavry, Marchioness of 
Winchester, England; Shri Valji G. Desai, Baroda; Smt. Sharda 
G. Chokhawala, Surat; Shri Kanu Gandhi, Rajkot; Smt. Vana- 
mala Desai, Shri Anand T. Hingorani, New Delhi; Shri Vallabh- 
ram, Shri Roger W. Holmes, Smt. Vijaya Pancholi, Amala; 
Shri Amrita Lai Chatterjee, Calcutta; Smt. Rajkumari Amrit 
Kaur, Smt. Madeleine Rolland, Smt. Mirabehn, Smt. Prema 
Kantak, Sasvad; Shri Kanubhai Nanalal Mashruwala, Shri 
Kanti Gandhi, Smt. Lilavati Asar, Shri Shantikumar N. Morar- 
jee, Bombay; the publishers of the books: Bapuki Chhayamen, 
Bapuna Patro-4: Manibehn Patelne, Bapuna Patro-9: Narandas 

Gandhine, Part II, Bapuna Patro-2: Sardar Vallabhbhaine, Bapuni 
Prasadi, Charles Ereer Andrews, Dilhiman Gandhiji, Parts I and II, 
GandhijVs Correspondence with the Government, 1944-47, Mahatma: 
Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Vols. I and VIII, Mahatma 
Gandhi: The Last Phase, Vol. II, Prarthana-Pravachan, Part II, 
Romain Rolland and Gandhi Correspondence, Sansmarno, Sardar PateVs 
Correspondence, Vol. IV, and the following newspapers and jour- 
nals : {The) Bombay Chronicle, Harijan, Harijanbandhu, Harijan Sevak, 
{The) Hindu, {The) Hindustan Times and Majoor-Sandesh. 



CONTENTS 


FOREWORD BY Smt. Indira Gandhi v 

ADVISORY BOARD vii 

EDITORIAL STAFF viii 

PREFACE xi 

NOTE TO THE READER xxi 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xxii 

ILLUSTRATIONS XXXvi 

1 WHEN A BLESSING BECOMES A CURSE (11-11-1947) 1 

2 A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION (11-11-1947) 1 

3 LETTER TO R. B. GREGG (11-11-1947) 3 

4 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (11-11-1947) 4 

5 FRAGMENT OF LETTER TO A WOMAN WORKER (11-11-1947) 5 

6 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER (11-11-1947) 5 

7 LETTER TO SAHASRABUDDHE (11-11-1947) 6 

8 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (11-11-1947) 6 

9 LETTER TO MORARJI DESAI (12-11-1947) 9 

10 LETTER TO JEHANGIR PATEL (12-11-1947) 11 

11 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (12-11-1947) 11 

12 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (12-11-1947) 12 

13 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (12-11-1947) 12 

14 LETTER TO D. B. JAGTAP (12-11-1947) 13 

15 A LETTER (12-11-1947) 14 

16 TALK WITH MUSLIM STUDENTS (12-11-1947) 14 

17 BROADCAST TO REFUGEES AT KURUKSHETRA CAMP 

(12-11-1947) 15 

18 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (12-11-1947) 18 

19 LETTER TO MANIBHAI B. DESAI (12-11-1947) 20 

20 NO INCONSISTENCY (13-11-1947) 22 

21 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (13-11-1947) 23 

22 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (13-11-1947) 23 

23 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (13-11-1947) 24 

24 TALK WITH DAHYABHAI AND YASHODA PATEL (13-11-1947) 25 

25 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (13-11-1947) 25 

26 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (14-11-1947) 30 

27 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (14-11-1947) 31 

28 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (14-11-1947) 32 

29 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (14-11-1947) 32 

30 MESSAGE TO STUDENTS’ PEACE CONFERENCE (On or 

befo re 15-11-1947) 


34 



[ xxiv ] 


31 LETTER TO MATHURADAS TRIKUMJI (15-11-1947) 34 

32 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (15-11-1947) 35 

33 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (15-11-1947) 36 

34 LETTER TO CHANDRANI (15-11-1947) 36 

35 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (15-11-1947) 37 

36 SPEECH AT A. I. C. C. MEETING (15-11-1947) 37 

37 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (15-11-1947) 44 

38 LETTER TO PYARELAL (After 15-11-1947) 45 

39 LETTER TO CHAMPA R. MEHTA (16-11-1947) 46 

40 LETTER TO ABBAS (16-11-1947) 47 

41 LETTER TO CHIMANLAL N. SHAH (16-11-1947) 47 

42 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (16-11-1947) 48 

43 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (16-11-1947) 48 

44 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (16-11-1947) 49 

45 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (16-11-1947) 49 

46 HOW TO GROW MORE FOOD (17-11-1947) 52 

47 CONTROLS (17-11-1947) 53 

48 LETTER TO LORD ISMAY (17-11-1947) 54 

49 FRAGMENT OF LETTER TO ABDUL GHAFFAR KHAN 

(17-11-1947) 54 

50 LETTER TO PRABHUDAS GANDHI (17-11-1947) 55 

51 LETTER TO INDU PAREKH (17-11-1947) 55 

52 LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI (17-11-1947) 56 

53 A LETTER (17-11-1947) 56 

54 A NOTE (17-11-1947) 57 

55 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (17-11-1947) 58 

56 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (17-11-1947) 58 

57 A LETTER (18-11-1947) 61 

58 TALK WITH RAJENDRA PRASAD (18-11-1947) 62 

59 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (18-11-1947) 63 

60 LETTER TO MUNNALAL G. SHAH (19-11-1947) 67 

61 LETTER TO KANCHAN M. SHAH (19-11-1947) 68 

62 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (19-11-1947) 68 

63 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (19-11-1947) 69 

64 LETTER TO M. A. HUNAR (19-11-1947) 70 

65 LETTER TO RATANDEVI (19-11-1947) 70 

66 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (19-11-1947) 71 

67 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (19-11-1947) 71 

68 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (20-11-1947) 75 

69 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (21-11-1947) 77 

70 RAYS OF HOPE (22-11-1947) 81 

71 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (22-11-1947) 82 

72 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (22-11-1947) 83 



[ XXV ] 

73 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (22-11-1947) 83 

74 LINGUISTIC REDISTRIBUTION (23-11-1947) 85 

75 UNBELIEVABLE (23-11-1947) 87 

76 DEATH COURAGEOUS OR COWARDLY (23-11-1947) 87 

77 NATIONAL GUARDS (23-11-1947) 88 

78 IN PRAISE OF DECONTROL (23-11-1947) 89 

79 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (23-11-1947) 90 

80 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (23-11-1947) 90 

81 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (23-11-1947) 91 

82 LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI (24-11-1947) 95 

83 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (24-11-1947) 95 

84 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (24-11-1947) 96 

85 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (24-11-1947) 96 

86 LETTER TO CHAMPA R. MEHTA (25-11-1947) 99 

87 LETTER TO CHIMANLAL N. SHAH (25-11-1947) 100 

88 LETTER TO HIRAGAURI (25-11-1947) 100 

89 LETTER TO CHUNIBHAI (25-11-1947) 100 

90 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (25-11-1947) 101 

91 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (25-11-1947) 101 

92 LETTER TO PRABHAKAR (25-11-1947) 102 

93 LETTER TO KRISHNACHANDRA (25-11-1947) 102 

94 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (25-11-1947) 103 

95 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (25-11-1947) 103 

96 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (25-11-1947) 104 

97 LETTER TO LILAVATI ASAR (26-11-1947) 108 

98 LETTER TO PRABHUDAS GANDHI (26-11-1947) 109 

99 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (26-11-1947) 109 

100 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (26-11-1947) 110 

101 LETTER TO S. M. QASIM RIZVI (26-11-1947) 110 

102 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (26-11-1947) 111 

103 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (26-11-1947) 111 

104 LETTER TO D. B. KALELKAR (27-11-1947) 113 

105 LETTER TO SURENDRA MEDH (27-11-1947) 114 

106 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (27-11-1947) 114 

107 NO COMPARISON POSSIBLE (28-11-1947) 119 

108 LETTER TO P. KODANDA RAO (28-11-1947) 120 

109 LETTER TO MANKUMAR NAG (28-11-1947) 120 

110 LETTER TO MANIBEHN (28-11-1947) 121 

111 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (28-11-1947) 121 

112 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER (28-11-1947) 122 

113 SPEECH AT GURU NANAK BIRTHDAY FUNCTION (28-11-1947) 122 

114 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (28-11-1947) 124 

115 LETTER TO YVONNE PRIVAT (29-11-1947) 129 



[ xxvi ] 


116 LETTER TO ANASUYA SARABHAI ( 29 - 11 - 1947 ) 131 

117 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 29 - 11 - 1947 ) 131 

118 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 29 - 11 - 1947 ) 132 

119 ITS WISE USE ( 30 - 11 - 1947 ) 136 

120 LETTER TO KISHORELAL G. MASHRUWALA ( 30 - 11 - 1947 ) 137 

121 LETTER TO SATISH D. KALELKAR ( 30 - 11 - 1947 ) 137 

122 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 30 - 11 - 1947 ) 138 

123 LETTER TO RAIHANA TYABJI ( 30 - 11 - 1947 ) 139 

124 LETTER TO MUSLIM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ( 30 - 11 - 1947 ) 139 

125 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 30 - 11 - 1947 ) 140 

126 LETTER TO PYARELAL ( 1 - 12 - 1947 ) 145 

127 LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI ( 1 - 12 - 1947 ) 145 

128 LETTER TO NARANDAS NALIERWALA ( 1 - 12 - 1947 ) 146 

129 LETTER TO HEMPRABHA DAS GUPTA ( 1 - 12 - 1947 ) 146 

130 NOTE TO LT.-GEN. K. M. CARIAPPA ( 1 - 12 - 1947 ) 147 

131 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 1 - 12 - 1947 ) 147 

132 LETTER TO BAPSY PAVRY ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 149 

133 LETTER TO GHULAM RASOOL QURESHI ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 150 

134 LETTER TO DILKHUSH DIWANJI ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 151 

135 LETTER TO JAYASHANKAR PANDYA ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 151 

136 LETTER TO JAMNA GANDHI ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 152 

137 LETTER TO SATYEN ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 152 

138 LETTER TO RAIHANA TYABJI ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 153 

139 TALK WITH MUSLIMS ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 153 

140 TALK WITH MUSLIM DELEGATION ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 154 

141 SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 156 

142 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 2 - 12 - 1947 ) 158 

143 LETTER TO CHAMPA MEHTA ( 3 - 12 - 1947 ) 163 

144 LETTER TO SHAMALDAS GANDHI ( 3 - 12 - 1947 ) 163 

145 LETTER TO LILAVATI ASAR ( 3 - 12 - 1947 ) 164 

146 LETTER TO BACHCHHARAJ & CO. ( 3 - 12 - 1947 ) 164 

147 TALK WITH LT.-GEN. K. M. CARIAPPA ( 3 - 12 - 1947 ) 165 

148 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 3 - 12 - 1947 ) 167 

149 LETTER TO KANU GANDHI ( 4 - 12 - 1947 ) 172 

150 LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM ( 4 - 12 - 1947 ) 173 

151 LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM ( 4 - 12 - 1947 ) 174 

152 TALK WITH BURMESE DELEGATION ( 4 - 12 - 1947 ) 174 

153 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 4 - 12 - 1947 ) 175 

154 LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI ( 5 - 12 - 1947 ) 178 

155 LETTER TO SHARDA H. KOTAK ( 5 - 12 - 1947 ) 178 

156 TALK WITH GHANSHYAMSINGH GUPTA ( 5 - 12 - 1947 ) 179 

157 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 5 - 12 - 1947 ) 179 

158 A TALK ( 5 - 12 - 1947 ) 184 



[ xxvii ] 


159 GIVE AND TAKE ( 6 - 12 - 1947 ) 185 

160 LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAI ( 6 - 12 - 1947 ) 186 

161 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 6 - 12 - 1947 ) 187 

162 DISCUSSION AT KASTURBA GANDHI NATIONAL MEMORIAL 

TRUST MEETING ( 7 - 12 - 1947 ) 190 

163 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 7 - 12 - 1947 ) 191 

164 A FOREWORD ( 8 - 12 - 1947 ) 194 

165 NO LIMITATIONS ( 8 - 12 - 1947 ) 195 

166 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 8 - 12 - 1947 ) 196 

167 LETTER TO ISMAT IFTIKHAR-UD-DIN ( 9 - 12 - 1947 ) 198 

168 LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI ( 9 - 12 - 1947 ) 198 

169 LETTER TO A MAULANA ( 9 - 12 - 1947 ) 199 

170 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 9 - 12 - 1947 ) 199 

171 QUESTION BOX ( 10 - 12 - 1947 ) 202 

172 ITS DEEP ROOTS ( 10 - 12 - 1947 ) 203 

173 DISCUSSION WITH H. S. SUHRAWARDY ( 10 - 12 - 1947 ) 203 

174 TALK WITH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ( 10 - 12 - 1947 ) 204 

175 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 10 - 12 - 1947 ) 206 

176 WHO SHOULD BE PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS? ( 11 - 12 - 1947 ) 208 

177 LETTER TO MANIBHAI B. DESAI ( 11 - 12 - 1947 ) 210 

178 LETTER TO VIJAYALAKSHMI PANDIT ( 11 - 12 - 1947 ) 21 1 

179 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 11 - 12 - 1947 ) 21 1 

180 ADVICE TO DECCAN STATES’ UNION RULERS ( 11 - 12 - 1947 ) 214 

181 LETTER TO LORD MOUNTBATTEN ( 11 - 12 - 1947 ) 214 

182 DISCUSSION AT CONSTRUCTIVE WORKS COMMITTEE 

MEETING ( 11 / 12 - 12 - 1947 ) 215 

183 DISCUSSION AT HINDUSTANI TALIMI SANGH MEETING 

( 11 / 12 - 12 - 1947 ) 222 

184 LETTER TO SHARDA G. CHOKHAWALA ( 12 - 12 - 1947 ) 224 

185 LETTER TO KANJI ( 12 - 12 - 1947 ) 224 

186 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 12 - 12 - 1947 ) 225 

187 NEVER DANGEROUS ( 13 - 12 - 1947 ) 228 

188 THE DOCTRINE OF MERGER ( 13 - 12 - 1947 ) 228 

189 SPINNING still! ( 13 - 12 - 1947 ) 229 

190 LETTER TO NARAHARI D. PARIKH ( 13 - 12 - 1947 ) 230 

191 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 13 - 12 - 1947 ) 231 

192 REPLY TO RICHARD B. GREGG ( 14 - 12 - 1947 ) 234 

193 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 14 - 12 - 1947 ) 234 

194 LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAI ( 15 - 12 - 1947 ) 237 

195 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 15 - 12 - 1947 ) 238 

196 LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI ( 16 - 12 - 1947 ) 241 

197 LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM ( 16 - 12 - 1947 ) 242 

198 TELEGRAM TO AMTUSSALAAM ( 16 - 12 - 1947 ) 242 



[ xxviii ] 


199 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 16 - 12 - 1947 ) 242 

200 LETTER TO KIRAN SHANKAR ( 17 - 12 - 1947 ) 246 

201 LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAI ( 17 - 12 - 1947 ) 246 

202 LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI ( 17 - 12 - 1947 ) 247 

203 LETTER TO JAMNA GANDHI ( 17 - 12 - 1947 ) 247 

204 LETTER TO SHANKARLAL ( 17 - 12 - 1947 ) 247 

205 A LETTER ( 17 - 12 - 1947 ) 248 

206 MESSAGE TO U. P. STUDENTS ( 17 - 12 - 1947 ) 249 

207 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 17 - 12 - 1947 ) 249 

208 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 18 - 12 - 1947 ) 253 

209 LETTER TO A MUSLIM ( 18 - 12 - 1947 ) 254 

210 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 18 - 12 - 1947 ) 254 

211 LETTER TO REV. GARDES ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 257 

212 LETTER TO NAWAB OF BHOPAL ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 257 

213 LETTER TO CHANDRANI ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 258 

214 LETTER TO CHIMANLAL N. SHAH ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 258 

215 LETTER TO DEV PRAKASH NAYYAR ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 259 

216 LETTER TO M. A. HUNAR ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 260 

217 MESSAGE TO BIHAR ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 260 

218 ADDRESS TO MEOS ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 261 

219 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 19 - 12 - 1947 ) 262 

220 LETTER TO DEV PRAKASH NAYYAR ( 20 - 12 - 1947 ) 265 

221 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 20 - 12 - 1947 ) 265 

222 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 20 - 12 - 1947 ) 266 

223 LAWS OF HEALTH ( 21 - 12 - 1947 ) 268 

224 COMPOST MANURE ( 21 - 12 - 1947 ) 269 

225 COMPOST MANURE ( 21 - 12 - 1947 ) 270 

226 LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI ( 21 - 12 - 1947 ) 271 

227 LETTER TO LILAVATI ASAR ( 21 - 12 - 1947 ) 272 

228 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 21 - 12 - 1947 ) 273 

229 NOTES ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 273 

230 NEED FOR STORING GRAIN IN VILLAGES ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 275 

231 TRIBUTE TO VALJIBHAI ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 276 

232 LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 276 

233 LETTER TO DR. BANERJEE ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 277 

234 LETTER TO V. L. MEHTA ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 277 

235 LETTER TO YASHWANTKUNWARBA ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 278 

236 LETTER TO KANU GANDHI ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 278 

237 LETTER TO BACHU ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 279 

238 LETTER TO RAMDAS GANDHI ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 279 

239 LETTER TO SHARDA H. KOTAK ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 280 

240 NOTE TO MANU GANDHI ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 280 

241 LETTER TO KUNDANLAL FIRODIA ( 22 - 12 - 1947 ) 281 



[ xxix ] 


242 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (22-12-1947) 

282 

243 

LETTER 

TO 

SHARDA G. CHOKHAWALA (23-12-1947) 

285 

244 

LETTER 

TO 

NARAHARI D. PARIKH (23-12-1947) 

285 

245 

LETTER 

TO 

VANAMALA PARIKH (23-12-1947) 

286 

246 

LETTER 

TO 

AMRITLAL T. NANAVATI (23-12-1947) 

286 

247 

FRAGMENT 

OF A LETTER (23-12-1947) 

287 

248 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (23-12-1947) 

287 

249 

LETTER 

TO 

ANAND T. HINGORANI (24-12-1947) 

290 

250 

LETTER 

TO 

GANGI A. HINGORANI (24-12-1947) 

291 

251 

LETTER 

TO 

DILKHUSH DIWANJI (24-12-1947) 

291 

252 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (24-12-1947) 

292 

253 

LETTER 

TO 

HAMID-UD-DIN (25-12-1947) 

294 

254 

FRAGMENT 

OF A LETTER (25-12-1947) 

295 

255 

FRAGMENT 

OF A LETTER (25-12-1947) 

295 

256 

LETTER 

TO 

KRISHNADAS (25-12-1947) 

296 

257 

LETTER 

TO 

HEMPRABHA DAS GUPTA (25-12-1947) 

296 

258 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (25-12-1947) 

297 

259 

LETTER 

TO 

G. V. MAVALANKAR (26-12-1947) 

299 

260 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (26-12-1947) 

300 

261 

LETTER 

TO 

RATHINDRA NATH TAGORE (27-12-1947) 

303 

262 

LETTER 

TO 

B. G. KHER (27-12-1947) 

303 

263 

LETTER 

TO 

MANIBEHN PATEL (27-12-1947) 

304 

264 

LETTER 

TO 

KHANDUBHAI DESAI (27-12-1947) 

304 

265 

LETTER 

TO 

SURYAKANT (27-12-1947) 

305 

266 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (27-12-1947) 

305 

267 

MESSAGE 

; TO INDONESIA (Before 28-12-1947) 

307 

268 

LETTER 

TO 

VALJI G. DESAI (28-12-1947) 

308 

269 

LETTER 

TO 

SHANTIKUMAR N. MORARJEE (28-12-1947) 

308 

270 

ADDRESS 

1 TO CLOTH MERCHANTS (28-12-1947) 

309 

271 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (28-12-1947) 

311 

272 

MATTER 

WELL PLACED (29-12-1947) 

313 

273 

“dhan’' 

’ OF DUST (29-12-1947) 

313 

274 

“URDU 

harijan” (29-12-1947) 

314 

275 

LETTER 

TO 

PYARELAL (29-12-1947) 

315 

276 

LETTER 

TO 

VALLABHBHAI PATEL (29-12-1947) 

316 

277 

FRAGMENT 

OF A LETTER (29-12-1947) 

316 

278 

FRAGMENT 

OF A LETTER (29-12-1947) 

317 

279 

SPEECH 

at 

PRAYER MEETING (29-12-1947) 

317 

280 

LETTER 

TO 

HOSA RASHID (30-12-1947) 

320 

281 

LETTER 

TO 

MUNNALAL G. SHAH (30-12-1947) 

321 

282 

LETTER 

TO 

JIVANJI D. DESAI (30-12-1947) 

321 

283 

LETTER 

TO 

SHARDA G. CHOKHAWALA (30-12-1947) 

322 

284 

LETTER 

TO 

CHIMANLAL N. SHAH (30-12-1947) 

322 



[ XXX ] 


285 LETTER TO MORARJI DESAI ( 30 - 12 - 1947 ) 323 

286 LETTER TO RAMDAS GANDHI ( 30 - 12 - 1947 ) 323 

287 LETTER TO HARSHADRAM ( 30 - 12 - 1947 ) 323 

288 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 30 - 12 - 1947 ) 324 

289 LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM ( 30 - 12 - 1947 ) 324 

290 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 30 - 12 - 1947 ) 325 

291 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 30 - 12 - 1947 ) 325 

292 TATYASAHEB KELKAR ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 328 

293 LETTER TO VALLABHRAM ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 329 

294 LETTER TO SHARDA G. CHOKHAWALA ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 330 

295 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 331 

296 A LETTER ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 331 

297 LETTER TO HOSHIARI ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 332 

298 LETTER TO BALVANTSINHA ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 332 

299 TALK WITH SUBHADRA GUPTA AND OTHERS ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 333 

300 A MESSAGE ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 333 

301 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 334 

302 TALK WITH ENGLISH FRIENDS ( 31 - 12 - 1947 ) 336 

303 LETTER TO KARL STRUVE ( 1 - 1 - 1948 ) 337 

304 LETTER TO PRAGJI K. NAYAK ( 1 - 1 - 1948 ) 338 

305 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 1 - 1 - 1948 ) 338 

306 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 1 - 1 - 1948 ) 339 

307 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 1 - 1 - 1948 ) 339 

308 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 1 - 1 - 1948 ) 339 

309 A NOTE (After 1 - 1 - 1948 ) 341 

310 WANTED ACCURACY ( 2 - 1 - 1948 ) 341 

311 LETTER TO D. G. TENDULKAR ( 2 - 1 - 1948 ) 342 

312 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 2 - 1 - 1948 ) 343 

313 LETTER TO JAISUKHLAL GANDHI ( 2 - 1 - 1948 ) 343 

314 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 2 - 1 - 1948 ) 344 

315 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 2 - 1 - 1948 ) 345 

316 IS IT DESERVED? ( 3 - 1 - 1948 ) 347 

317 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 3 - 1 - 1948 ) 348 

318 LETTER TO SAVITRI BAJAJ ( 3 - 1 - 1948 ) 348 

319 LETTER TO HEMPRABHA DAS GUPTA ( 3 - 1 - 1948 ) 349 

320 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 3 - 1 - 1948 ) 349 

321 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 3 - 1 - 1948 ) 350 

322 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 3 - 1 - 1948 ) 350 

323 QUESTION BOX ( 4 - 1 - 1948 ) 352 

324 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 4 - 1 - 1948 ) 353 

325 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 4 - 1 - 1948 ) 354 

326 LETTER TO M. B. GODBOLE ( 4 - 1 - 1948 ) 354 

327 LETTER TO RAJA OF AUNDH ( 4 - 1 - 1948 ) 355 



[ xxxi ] 


328 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 4 - 1 - 1948 ) 355 

329 LETTER TO R. R. DIWAKAR ( 4 / 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 359 

330 LETTER TO MAHMUD ( 4 / 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 359 

331 LETTER TO RAMESHCHANDRA ( 4 / 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 360 

332 LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI ( 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 360 

333 LETTER TO VIJAYA M. PANCHOLI ( 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 361 

334 LETTER TO NRISIMHAPRASAD K. BHATT ( 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 361 

335 NOTE TO MUSLIMS ( 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 362 

336 NOTE TO SUBHADRA GUPTA ( 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 362 

337 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 5 - 1 - 1948 ) 363 

338 KHADI CAN REMOVE CLOTH SHORTAGE ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 365 

339 CERTIFIED AND UNCERTIFIED KHADI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 366 

340 HARIJANS IN HOSTELS ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 367 

341 LETTER TO SITA GANDHI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 368 

342 LETTER TO SUSHILA GANDHI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 368 

343 LETTER TO MANILAL GANDHI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 369 

344 LETTER TO ILA GANDHI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 370 

345 LETTER TO ARUN GANDHI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 370 

346 LETTER TO ANAND T. HINGORANI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 371 

347 LETTER TO MAHADEV A. HINGORANI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 372 

348 LETTER TO GANGI A. HINGORANI ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 372 

349 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 6 - 1 - 1948 ) 373 

350 A LETTER ( 7 - 1 - 1948 ) 375 

351 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 7 - 1 - 1948 ) 376 

352 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 7 - 1 - 1948 ) 376 

353 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 7 - 1 - 1948 ) 377 

354 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 7 - 1 - 1948 ) 377 

355 LETTER TO SHANTA NERULKAR ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 380 

356 LETTER TO E. W. ARYANAYAKUM ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 380 

357 LETTER TO AMINA G. QURESHI ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 381 

358 LETTER TO KRISHNADAS GANDHI ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 381 

359 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 383 

360 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 384 

361 LETTER TO GOVIND BALLABH PANT ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 384 

362 LETTER TO MANGAL SINGH ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 385 

363 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 8 - 1 - 1948 ) 385 

364 LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI ( 9 - 1 - 1948 ) 388 

365 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 9 - 1 - 1948 ) 388 

366 LETTER TO AMRITA LAL CHATTERJEE ( 9 - 1 - 1948 ) 389 

367 LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM ( 9 - 1 - 1948 ) 389 

368 TRIBUTE TO BHAURAO PATIL ( 9 - 1 - 1948 ) 390 

369 TALK WITH SAURASHTRA DELEGATION ( 9 - 1 - 1948 ) 390 

370 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 9 - 1 - 1948 ) 391 



[ xxxii ] 


371 LETTER TO VIJAYA M. PANCHOLI (9-1-1948) 394 

372 LETTER TO SHARDA H. KOTAK (10-1-1948) 395 

373 LETTER TO GANGADHARRAO DESHPANDE (10-1-1948) 395 

374 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (10-1-1948) 396 

375 “URDU harijan” (11-1-1948) 398 

376 HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS (11-1-1948) 399 

377 HOW TO INCREASE YIELDS? (11-1-1948) 400 

378 A NOTE (11-1-1948) 401 

379 LETTER TO PRABHAKAR (11-1-1948) 401 

380 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (11-1-1948) 402 

381 RACING AND BETTING (12-1-1948) 404 

382 THE LATE TOTARAM SANADHYA (12-1-1948) 404 

383 LETTER TO KONDA VENKATAPPAYYA (12-1-1983) 405 

384 LETTER TO PARTHASARATHY (12-1-1948) 406 

385 LETTER TO SHARDA G. CHOKHAWALA (12-1-1948) 406 

386 LETTER TO SARAIYA (12-1-1948) 407 

387 LETTER TO KEDARNATH SAHNI (12-1-1948) 407 

388 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (12-1-1948) 408 

389 LETTER TO A PUBLISHER (13-1-1948) 412 

390 LETTER TO MANIBEHN PATEL (13-1-1948) 412 

391 TALK WITH A SIKH FRIEND (13-1-1948) 413 

392 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (13-1-1948) 413 

393 NOTE TO MANU GANDHI (13-1-1948) 417 

394 NOTE TO BALVANTSINHA (After 13-1-1948) 418 

395 TALK WITH A MUSLIM FRIEND (After 13-1-1948) 418 

396 TO GUJARATIS (14-1-1948) 419 

397 LETTER TO DEVDAS GANDHI (14-1-1948) 420 

398 TALK WITH MUSLIMS (14-1-1948) 422 

399 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (14-1-1948) 423 

400 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (15-1-1948) 426 

401 LETTER TO MIRABEHN (16-1-1948) 430 

402 TELEGRAM TO ANAND T. HINGORANI (16-1-1948) 431 

403 LETTER TO PREMA KANTAK (16-1-1948) 432 

404 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (16-1-1948) 435 

405 TALK WITH RAJENDRA PRASAD (17-1-1948) 437 

406 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (17-1-1948) 438 

407 NEITHER ANGER NOR INFATUATION (18-1-1948) 441 

408 SPEECH BEFORE BREAKING FAST (18-1-1948) 444 

409 MESSAGE TO SIKHS (18-1-1948) 448 

410 TALK WITH MUSLIM WOMEN (18-1-1948) 449 

411 LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (18-1-1948) 449 

412 TALK WITH MAJ.-GEN. K. M. CARIAPPA (18-1-1948) 450 

413 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING (18-1-1948) 450 



[ xxxiii ] 


414 

LETTER 

TO 

NARAHARI D. PARIKH (18-1-1948) 

454 

415 

LETTER 

TO 

KONDA VENKATAPPAYYA (19-1-1948) 

454 

416 

LETTER 

TO 

MIRABEHN (19-1-1948) 

455 

417 

LETTER 

TO 

ABDUL HALIM GAZNAVI (19-1-1948) 

455 

418 

LETTER 

TO 

MANU MASHRUWALA (19-1-1948) 

456 

419 

LETTER 

TO 

B. D. KALELKAR (19-1-1948) 

456 

420 

LETTER 

TO 

MUNNALAL G. SHAH (19-1-1948) 

456 

421 

LETTER 

TO 

PIROJ WADIA (19-1-1948) 

458 

422 

LETTER 

TO 

JUGATRAM DAVE (19-1-1948) 

458 

423 

LETTER 

TO 

DEV PRAKASH NAYYAR (19-1-1948) 

459 

424 

LETTER 

TO 

ANAND AND GANGI HINGORANI (19-1-1948) 

459 

425 

LETTER 

TO 

M. S. ANEY (19-1-1948) 

460 

426 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (19-1-1948) 

460 

427 

KASTURBA FORTNIGHT (20-1-1948) 

463 

428 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (20-1-1948) 

464 

429 

LETTER 

TO 

H. S. SUHRAWARDY (21-1-1948) 

467 

430 

LETTER 

TO 

C. RAJAGOPALACHARI (21-1-1948) 

468 

431 

LETTER 

TO 

KHURSHED NAOROJEE (21-1-948) 

468 

432 

LETTER 

TO 

REPRESENTATIVE, REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA 



(21-1-1948) 

469 

433 

TALK WITH 

G. D. BIRLA (21-1-1948) 

469 

434 

TALK WITH 

SIKH DEPUTATION (21-1-1948) 

470 

435 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (21-1-1948) 

472 

436 

CABLE TO ARUNA ASAF ALI (Before 22-1-1948) 

475 

437 

LETTER 

TO 

ISMAT IFTIKHAR-UD-DIN (22-1-1948) 

475 

438 

LETTER 

TO 

DR. CHARLES MOORE (22-1-1948) 

476 

439 

LETTER 

TO 

AMBASSADOR OF NETHERLANDS (22-1-1948) 

476 

440 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (22-1-1948) 

477 

441 

WORTHY OF REFLECTION (23-1-1948) 

479 

442 

LETTER 

TO 

MANU GANDHI (23-1-1948) 

481 

443 

FRAGMENT 

OF LETTER TO NAWAB OF BAHAWALPUR 



(23-1-1948) 

482 

444 

LETTER 

TO 

KANTI GANDHI (23-1-1948) 

483 

445 

FRAGMENT 

OF A LETTER (23-1-1948) 

484 

446 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (23-1-1948) 

484 

447 

HIS majesty’s opposition (24-1-1948) 

487 

448 

LETTER 

TO 

JAISUKHLAL GANDHI (24-1-1948) 

488 

449 

FRAGMENT 

OF A LETTER (24-1-1948) 

489 

450 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (24-1-1948) 

490 

451 

LETTER 

TO 

AMTUSSALAAM (25-1-1948) 

491 

452 

LETTER 

TO 

PRABHUDAYAL VIDYARTHI (25-1-1948) 

492 

453 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (25-1-1948) 

493 

454 

SPEECH 

AT 

PRAYER MEETING (26-1-1948) 

495 



[ xxxiv ] 

455 CONGRESS POSITION ( 27 - 1 - 1948 ) 497 

456 HARIJANS AND TEMPLE-ENTRY ( 27 - 1 - 1948 ) 499 

457 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 27 - 1 - 1948 ) 500 

458 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 27 - 1 - 1948 ) 501 

459 SPEEGH AT URS ( 27 - 1 - 1948 ) 501 

460 INTERVIEW TO KINGSLEY MARTIN ( 27 - 1 - 1948 ) 502 

461 A DISCUSSION ( 27 - 1 - 1948 ) 505 

462 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 27 - 1 - 1948 ) 507 

463 INTERVIEW TO VINCENT SHEEAN ( 27 / 28 - 1 - 1948 ) 510 

464 LETTER TO NARAHARI PARIKH ( 28 - 1 - 1948 ) 512 

465 LETTER TO VANAMALA PARIKH ( 28 - 1 - 1948 ) 513 

466 LETTER TO LILAVATI ASAR ( 28 - 1 - 1948 ) 513 

467 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 28 - 1 - 1948 ) 514 

468 FRAGMENT OF A LETTER ( 28 - 1 - 1948 ) 514 

469 LETTER TO DR. SYED MAHMUD ( 28 - 1 - 1948 ) 515 

470 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 28 - 1 - 1948 ) 515 

471 LETTER TO LILAVATI ASAR ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 518 

472 LETTER TO VIJAYA WALJI SODAWALA ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 518 

473 LETTER TO KANU GANDHI ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 519 

474 LETTER TO SANKARAN ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 519 

475 LETTER TO KISHORELAL MASHRUWALA ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 520 

476 LETTER TO BALVANTSINHA ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 521 

477 INTERVIEW TO MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 521 

478 INTERVIEW TO GENERAL SECRETARY, Y. W. C. A. ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 523 

479 SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 523 

480 DRAFT CONSTITUTION OF CONGRESS ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 526 

481 TALK WITH DEVDAS GANDHI ( 29 - 1 - 1948 ) 529 

482 LETTER TO ANAND T. HINGORANI ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 530 

483 TALK WITH PYARELAL ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 530 

484 TALK WITH PYARELAL ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 531 

485 TALK WITH SUDHIR GHOSH ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 531 

486 TALK WITH MUSLIM LEADERS ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 532 

487 A TALK ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 533 

488 INTERVIEW TO SINDHI DEPUTATION ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 534 

489 TALK WITH VALLABHBHAI PATEL ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 534 

490 REMARKS ON WAY TO PRAYER MEETING ( 30 - 1 - 1948 ) 535 

APPENDICES 

I A. I. C. C. RESOLUTIONS 537 

II EXTRACT FROM LETTER FROM PYARELAL 543 

III LETTER FROM KARL STRUVE 544 

IV LETTER FROM INDIAN REPRESENTATIVE TO THE 545 

SECURITY COUNCIL 

v(a) VALLABHBHAI PATEL’s STATEMENT TO THE PRESS 550 



[ XXXV ] 


v(b) government communique 

555 

SOURCES 

557 

CHRONOLOGY 

559 

INDEX OF TITLES 

573 

INDEX 

577 

ERRATA 

598 



ILLUSTRATIONS 


WALKING ALONG WITH TWO AIDS 
THE LAST DAY OF THE FAST 
ARRIVING AT PRAYER MEETING 


frontispiece 
facing p. 448 




449 



WHEN A BLESSING BECOMES A CURSE 


In declining to give a blessing I said the following to a 
friend: 

No one who wants to start a worthy enterprise should ever 
wish to have anybody’s blessings, not even of the highest in 
the land. A worthy enterprise carries its own blessing. On the 
other hand, if an unworthy project receives any blessing from 
outside, it becomes, as it should become, a curse. Indeed, I have 
come to the conclusion that a blessing from outside interferes 
with the even progress of one’s enterprise, because it very often 
induces a false hope and turns one away from the industry and 
watchfulness required for the success of a cause. 

Though I have often said some such thing to many per- 
sons, it is best that this considered opinion is reproduced for the 
benefit of those who continue to ask for blessings for their enter- 
prise. Thus, I have been asked to bless memorials about great 
men and I have felt compelled to give much the same answer 
as the above. 

New Delhi, November 11, 1947 
Harijan, 23-11-1947 

2. A PSrCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION 

The following is from Mr. Richard B. Gregg, whom many 
readers of the Harijan know as an American friend who used to 
live in Shantiniketan as also with me in Sabarmati years ago: 

Though because of my ignorance I am hesitant, yet I venture to 
send you an idea that seems to me not only to explain with perhaps less 
moral blame a part of the recent communal violence in India but also 
to offer hope for the future. 

It seems to me probable that much of this violence is an expression 
not so much of inter-communal suspicion and hatred, but rather, and 
more deeply and originally, of the long-pent-up resentments of the mas- 
ses because of their oppression. The oppression was not only by foreign 
political rule but by foreign modern social, economic and financial ways 
which are contrary to the ancient habits of dharma which were a very 
part of the nature of the masses. By foreign ways I mean such things 


90-1 


1 



2 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


as the English land-holding system, usurious money-lending, heavy taxes 
payable not in kind but in money, and other interferences with long- 
established village life common to all Indian communities. 

Psychological studies have shown clearly that severe frustrations suf- 
fered during the childhood of an individual generate resentments which 
are suppressed and remain suppressed long after the person who caused 
the original frustration had died, but later some occasion pulls a trigger, 
as it were, and releases the pent-up energy of the old resentment 
which then pours forth in violence upon some perfectly innocent per- 
son. This explains many crimes of violence, and perhaps some of the 
cruelties against the Jews in Europe. In India the establishment of re- 
ligious electorates created a channel into which it was easy for this energy 
to flow, but I believe the fearful energy of the explosion of wrath comes 
from the older cause I have mentioned. Such an idea as this would 
help explain why in all countries all through history a major change of 
political power results in more or less violence and disorder. The masses 
always suflFer some oppression and, therefore, have resentments which 
flare up upon a shift of control or may be exploited by selflsh leaders. 

If this surmise is true, it suggests that the suspicion and hatred of 
one community towards another is not so deep as now appears. It also 
means that as soon as the masses can be guided back into their ancient 
ways of life with the chief emphasis on religion and small organizations 
— village panchayats and communal family systems — the energy of the 
people will be turned from violence into creative channels. I would 
expect that khadi work among the refugees might help start such a diver- 
sion of energy into sound channels. In such a development I see hope. 

Forgive me if this seems to be presumptuous. I write it only in 
the hope that an humble outsider, just because he is outside, may see 
a gleam of encouragement that is not so easy to see in the dust and 
distraction of the struggle. Anyhow, I love you and India. 

Though many psychologists have recommended a study of 
psychology, I am sorry I have not been able, for want of time, 
to study the subject. Mr. Gregg’s letter does not mend matters 
for me. It does not fill me with any impelling enthusiasm for 
undertaking the study. Mr. Gregg gives an explanation which 
mystifies the mind instead of clearing it. “Hope for the future” 
I have never lost and never will, because it is embedded in my 
undying faith in non-violence. What has, however, clearly hap- 
pened in my case is the discovery that in all probability there 
is a vital defect in my technique of the working of non- 
violence. There was no real appreciation of non-violence in the 
thirty years’ struggle against British Raj. Therefore, the peace 
the masses maintained during that struggle of a generation with 



LETTER TO R. B. GREGG 


3 


exemplary patience, had not come from within. The pent-up 
fury found an outlet when British Raj was gone. It naturally 
vented itself in communal violence which was never fully absent 
and which was kept under suppression by the British bayonet. 
This explanation seems to me to be all-sufhcing and convin- 
cing. In it there is no room for failure of any hope. Failure of my 
technique of non-violence causes no loss of faith in non-violence 
itself. On the contrary, that faith is, if possible, strengthened by 
the discovery of a possible flaw in the technique. 

New Delhi, November 11, 1947 
Harijan, 23-11-1947. Also C.W. 4525 


3. LETTER TO R. B. GREGG 

November 11, 1947 

MY DEAR GOVIND, 

I have your lovely letter which I am reproducing in the 
columns of Harijan} with such remarks as occur to me. If I 
flnish my note on it in time, a copy will accompany this letter. 

I am glad Radha^ is “slowly but steadily” improving through 
vegetarian dietetics. If she recovers completely, I would like you 
to write out your experience of this experiment for the sake of 
the general reader of Harijan. 

By the way, has vegetarianism a real foothold in America 
or is it merely a fad of cranks like you and me? Have the 
dietetic reformers found anything which can be described as a 
complete substitute for milk? I must confess that I have failed 
miserably in that direction and, in the absence of the discovery 
of a complete substitute, I have come to the conclusion that 
some form of animal fat and animal protein is necessary for 
human sustenance in health. 

You have yourself written ‘Radhabehn’ instead of mere 
‘Radha’. According to Indian custom, between friends ‘Radha- 
behn’ is mere ‘Radha’. The omission of the suffix behn, meaning 
sister, is a mark of great endearment and intimacy. If you 
were writing to a casual acquaintance or an utter stranger, then 
you will naturally mention ‘Radha’ by her full name ‘Radha- 
behn’. Therefore, I dare not call you ‘Govindbhai’ and ‘Radha’ 

* Vide the preceding item. 

^ Addressee’s wife 



4 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


as ‘Radhabehn’. Bhai means brother, but when behn and bhai 
are used as suffixes to a name, they have merely an honorific 
value. 

How are you getting on yourself ? Have you lost all the 
physical weakness which you had developed here? Also tell me, 
when you write, what you are doing for earning. Or, are you 
living on past savings when you were practising as a lawyer? 
Love to both of you. 

Bapu 

Enclosure: 1 

Richard B. Gregg, Esq,. 

Fuller Memorial Sanatorium 
South Attleboro, Mass. 

U. S. A. 

From a photostat: C. W. 4524 


4. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 11, 1947 

I did get the news that Shamaldas’ showed bravery and 
won the battle.^ But today I am not happy about it. Why 
should I talk of my happiness and sorrow? To whom shall I 
talk? And who will listen today? 

I have taken a vow that I shall not step out of Delhi till 
I have achieved something or perished. Therefore it is not pos- 
sible for me to go to Kathiawar. Kathiawaris have maintained 
friendly relations with Muslims through the ages. If they do so 
now, it will certainly have an impact on conditions here. See 
that Kathiawar’s honour is not sullied. . . J 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, p. 256 


* Shamaldas Gandhi, son of Gandhiji’s elder brother, Lakshmidas Gandhi 
^ The Junagadh State subjects, at a meeting held in Bombay on Sep- 
tember 25, had challenged the decision of the Nawab of Junagadh to accede 
to Pakistan and set up a provisional government, led by Shamaldas Gandhi, 
and to take all necessary steps for Junagadh ’s formal accession to India. 

In response to a request from the Dewan of Junagadh, the Indian 
troops entered Junagadh city and the Government of India took over its 
administration on November 9. Vide also pp. 6-9. 

^ Omission as in the source 



5. FRAGMENT OF LETTER TO A WOMAN WORKERS 


November 11, 1947 

What you say is true. But you should have so much love 
in your heart that the children themselves would have the urge 
to finish their household work early and run to you. The at- 
traction should be so intense that the parents will ultimately 
allow their children to go to you, realizing that the children 
are actually growing wiser. From your very long letter and the 
fact that you notice no change in the narrow-mindedness of the 
villagers even after two years, I feel that you yourself are to 
blame in some way. One should be able to discover one’s 
own shortcomings. Moreover, I am of the view that it will be 
easier for you to work amongst the less intelligent villagers as 
you call them, than with the so-called polite and intelligent 
people of the cities. Do give serious thought to this letter. If 
it is necessary to change your attitude or style, do so; then your 
work will shine forth. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 257 


6. EXTRACT EROM A LETTER 

November 11, 1947 

. . A Who knows, my ahimsa might be tested at the fag 

end of my life. A proverb says that ‘a dying flame burns the 

brighter before it burns itself out.’ Maybe my end is approaching. 
I am fully prepared. Everyone should be prepared. I write all 
this to explain to you what passes in my mind as I see the way 

things are going, as I see the explosion of violence and the 

disappearance of human kindness. Try to understand this if you 
can; otherwise just watch whatever unfolds itself. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — p. 257 

* The addressee had reported lack of enthusiasm among villagers 
regarding education of their children. 

^ Omission as in the source 


5 



7. LETTER TO SAHASRABUDDHE 


New Delhi, 

November 11, 1947 

BHAI SAHASRABUDDHE, 

I have your letter. I think that I have not received the 
unconditional endorsement by both the parties made on one 
document. If this impression is correct, there remains nothing 
that I can do. But if my impression is wrong, then I must 
not break my word however busy I may be. Yet I would 
like to say that you should spare me this responsibility at this 
hour. Since I cannot concentrate on any other matter except my 
present responsibility, I am afraid my judgement in other mat- 
ters might not be as correct as it ought to be. 

You must have recovered fully by now. 

From a copy of the Hindi : Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy : Pyarelal 


8. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 

November 11, 1947 


BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I told you yesterday that the Provisional Government had 
entered the State of Junagadh at the request of its Prime Minis- 
ter’ and Deputy Prime Minister^. I was surprised as well as 
happy to tell you this because I had not expected that the strug- 
gle which was being carried on on behalf of the people of 
Junagadh would have such a happy ending.^ I had also expressed 

’ Shah Nawaz Bhutto 

^ Major Harvey Jones 

^ A Press communique issued by the Government of India said : “the 
Regional Commissioner of Rajkot was approached ... by Major Harvey Jones 
. . . with a letter from the Junagadh Dewan, appealing to the Government 
of India to take over the Junagadh administration ... to save the State from 
complete administrative break-down . . . pending honourable settlement of 
several issues involved in the Junagadh accession. 

We have considered this request and with a view to avoiding chaos in 
the State and its repercussions have agreed to take over the administration 
of Junagadh with immediate effect.” 

6 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


7 


the fear that if the request of the officials of Junagadh did 
not have the sanction from the Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah^, it would 
not be proper to feel happy about it right now. Hence, you 
would be amazed and distressed to know that the officials of 
Pakistan have protested against the Provisional Government as- 
suming power on behalf of the people of Junagadh. They have 
demanded “withdrawal of Indian troops from the State territory 
and relinquishment of the administration to the rightful Govern- 
ment and stoppage of violence and invasion of the State by peo- 
ple from the Indian Union”. They also say that neither the 
Nawab nor the Dewan of Junagadh has any legal authority to 
negotiate permanent or provisional settlement with the Indian 
Union. According to Pakistan the action of the Government of 
India is “a clear violation of the Pakistan territory and a breach 
of international law”. 

Looking at the Press reports that have appeared yesterday, 
I find that there was neither a breach of international law in 
this matter, nor any operation by the Union Government to 
establish control over the State. As far as I can see, there is no- 
thing illegal in the campaign carried on by the Provisional 
Government on behalf of the people of Junagadh. It is true 
that the Union Government sent military help for the safety of 
the whole of Kathiawar at the request of the rulers of Kathia- 
war. For that reason, I find nothing illegal in this whole ac- 
tion. As against this, whatever the Dewan of Junagadh did by 
publicly changing his stand was illegal. I look at the whole 
situation like this — the Nawab of Junagadh had no right at all 
to accede to Pakistan without the consent of his people, of which 
I am told 85% are Hindus.^ The sacred hill of Girnar and 
all the temples on it are part of Junagadh. The Hindus have 
spent a lot of money on those temples and thousands of pilgrims 
go to the Girnar on pilgrimage from all parts of India. In free 
India, the whole country belongs to the people. Not even the 
smallest portion of it is the private property of the Princes. They 
can retain their claim only by becoming trustees of the people 
and that is why they would be required to give evidence of 
popular support for every action of theirs. True, the Princes have 

' Governor-General of Pakistan 

^ The Nawab of Junagadh after consenting to accede to India, had 
revoked his decision, fled to Pakistan and executed an Instrument of Accession 
on September 15 whereby the State was declared to have acceded to Pakistan. 
The Government of India refused to accept the accession of Junagadh to 
Pakistan in the circumstances in which it was made. 



8 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


not yet realized that they are the trustees and representatives of 
the people. And it is also true that with the exception of the alert 
subjects of some States, the people of all States have not yet 
realized themselves as the true rulers of their States. But that 
does not diminish the value of the principle I have laid down. 

Hence, only the people of a particular State have a legal 
right to accede to one of the Unions. If the Provisional Govern- 
ment does not represent the people of Junagadh at any stage, 
it is merely a group of people who are unjustly occupying seats 
of power in the State and it should be driven out by both the 
Dominions. If any ruler joins any of the Unions in his personal 
capacity, the Dominion cannot stand before the world to justify 
his action. From this point of view, I think that the Nawab’s 
accession has been baseless from the very beginning till it is 
proved that the people of the State have given their consent to 
the accession by the Nawab. The dispute as to which Union 
Junagadh would finally accede to can be resolved only by taking 
public opinion, that is, by referendum. This task should be 
properly carried out and should not involve violence or show of 
violence. The stand taken by the Government of Pakistan and 
now also by the Prime Minister of Junagadh, has created a 
strange situation. Who was to decide whether Pakistan was in 
the right or the Union Government? One cannot even think 
that it can be decided by an appeal to the sword. The only 
honourable way is to decide the matter through arbitration. We 
can find many impartial individuals in the country itself but, if 
the parties concerned cannot agree to arbitration by Indians, 
I for one will have no objection to any impartial person from 
any part of the world. 

Whatever I have said about Junagadh equally applies to 
Kashmir' and Hyderabad^. Neither the Maharaja of Kashmir 
nor the Nizam of Hyderabad has any authority to accede 

' On October 23, some two thousand or more Afridis and other tribes- 
men entered the Kashmir State and indulged in loot, arson and murder. In 
view of the grave emergency prevailing in the State, Maharaja Harisingh of 
the Jammu and Kashmir State appealed to the Indian Union for military help 
and signed the Instrument of Accession on October 27. 

^ The Nizam wanted “Hyderabad to be an independent sovereign State” 
and refused to accede to the Dominion of India. After prolonged discus- 
sions between the Government of India and the Nizam, a delegation led by 
the Nawab of Chhatari, arrived at a draft standstill agreement on October 
22. The Nizam, however, against the advice of his Council, dissolved the 
delegation and appointed a new one on October 29. Vide also “Fragment 
of A Letter”, 26-11-1947. 



LETTER TO MORARJI DESAI 


9 


to either Union without the consent of his people. As far 
as I know, this point was clarified in the case of Kashmir.' If 
it had been only the Maharaja who had wanted to accede to 
the Indian Union, I could never support such an act. The Union 
Government agreed to the accession for the time being because 
both the Maharaja and Sheikh Abdullah^, who is the representa- 
tive of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, wanted it. Sheikh 
Abdullah came forward because he claims to represent not only 
the Muslims but the entire masses in Kashmir. 

I have heard people talking in whispers that Kashmir could 
be divided. Jammu would come to the Hindus and the Muslims 
would have Kashmir. I cannot even think of such divided loy- 
alty and division of the Indian States into several parts. Hence, 
I hope that the whole of India would act sensibly and this ugly 
situation would be avoided soon at least for the sake of lakhs of 
Indians who have been compelled to become helpless refugees. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 66-9 


9. LETTER TO MORARJI DESAI 

November 12, 1947 

BHAI MORARjF, 

I am dictating this letter to you at 4 in the morning. Dr. 
Dinshaw and Jehangir Patel are at present with me. We sat 
together and came to the conclusion that Dr. Dinshaw should 
earn as much as he needs for his maintenance by charging fees 
for the nature-cure treatment he offers outside the Trust'' formed 
in Poona. There was a time when we had thought of paying 
Dr. Dinshaw his maintenance allowance out of the Trust funds. 

* The Government of India, while accepting the accession of Jammu 
and Kashmir to India, had “made it clear to the Maharaja that, as soon as 
the invaders have been driven from the soil of Kashmir, the people of the 
State should decide the question of accession”. 

^ Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah (1905-82), President, All-India States’ 
People’s Conference; President, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference. 
After Kashmir’s accession to the Indian Union he was sworn in Head of the 
Emergency Administration in Jammu and Kashmir on October 31, 1947. 

^ (b. 1896); Minister, Bombay, 1937-39 and 1946-51; Chief Minister of 
Bombay, 1952-56; Minister, Union Cabinet, 1956-58, 1958-62; Deputy Prime 
Minister, 1967-69; Prime Minister, 1977-79 

■' All-India Nature Cure Trust 



10 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


But it was something Dr. Dinshaw could not bring himself to 
accept. Then it was thought that he should engage himself in 
some other occupation and earn enough for his maintenance. 
That also is not possible at present. He should therefore accept 
fees from the townspeople, offering them treatment in his own 
style and practise nature cure as he conceives it. He should do 
it either by expanding his own clinic which he runs in Bom- 
bay or with the assistance of the hospital unit at Purandar. 
From a broader point of view, between the two I would prefer 
Bombay to Purandar. Neither institution has a place for nature 
cure as I conceive it. It can be practised only with village 
background and nowhere but in a village. At the root of it lies 
the great question of changing individual life as well as social 
life. This Trust therefore must maintain its separate identity. If the 
treatment is meant for the townspeople it must have Govern- 
ment’s aid, without which nowadays no accommodation can be 
had. In Bombay extra floors will be required where Dr. Dinshaw 
carries on his practice, or he will have to have another building 
to meet his requirements. The point is that you should offer 
Dr. Dinshaw the necessary accommodation in Purandar through 
a non-government source at a reasonable rent or cost without 
bestowing any special favour on him. The main consideration 
here could be nothing but service to the public. The rich can 
get nature-cure treatment also by paying for it. We can expect 
such accommodation for a person whom the Government regards 
as suitable. This letter will not be out of place if only the 
Government of Bombay could think about it from this point of 
view. 

We trustees are considering a different plan for the site 
that belongs to Jagtap.’ If we expect the Government to do 
anything about it I shall write to you some other time. 

I cannot say from here how much land will be required 
either in Bombay or in Purandar or where it should be. I ought 
to have more information as well as understanding, neither of 
which I have. Hence only Dr. Dinshaw and Jehangir can dis- 
cuss the matter with you. A similar letter for Dr. Dinshaw. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy : Pyarelal 


* Vide pp. 13-4. 



10. LETTER TO JEHANGIR PATEL 

November 12, 1947 

CHI. JEHANGIR, 

I have read your letter carefully. 

Lack of fertilizers has nothing to do with the poverty of 
our soil. There is great divergence of opinion on inorganic ma- 
nure. We waste a tremendous quantity of organic manure. It 
is all a question of the education of the growers, whether owners 
or not. 

I have no doubt that food control is an unmixed evil and 
it should go. 

About alcohol, we must discuss the subject again when we 
meet. For the time being do not write anything for publication. 

Do return if you can with Dinshaw and we shall discuss 
many things. 

Love. 

Bapu 


From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


11. ERAGMENT OE A LETTER 

November 12, 1947 

Today is Diwali day; but the nation has gone bankrupt. . . .' 
Let us pray to God that people may see true light. The situa- 
tion is tense here. Order cannot be maintained without the 
police or the army. Murders and shootings have become com- 
mon occurrences. Let us see what I can do. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 262 


Omission as in the source 


11 



12. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


November 12, 1947 

Shamaldas has, true to his nature, behaved like a Nawab. 
Even this does not please me. But no one need worry whether 
I am pleased or displeased; nor should anyone care. Ultimately, 
everyone has to rely on his own strength. Therein lies the 
true success of democracy. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 262 


13. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 12, 1947 

I appreciate your desire to get your daughter admitted to 
the Ashram. Only bear in mind that I am not there. But what 
of that? Many others are there. Ashadevi Aryanayakum’ is 
there. Kishorelal does not stay there these days. She should 
study the complete course under Nayee Talim; also all processes 
associated with khadi. She should learn Hindi and Sanskrit 
well. If she learns all these subjects with a steady mind, she 
will become an expert in my view. And she can teach me 
many things if I am still alive at that time. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 262 


^ Wife of E. W. Aryanayakum; Joint-Secretary of Hindustani Talimi 
Sangh; Editor of Nayee Talim, an organ of the Hindustani Talimi Sangh 

12 



14. LETTER TO D. B. JAGTAP 

November 12, 1947 

BHAI JAGTAP, 

I had your letter. Your complaint about this letter of Dr. 
Dinshaw should be regarded as directed against me. If you 
have been at all humiliated it is my fault, although it could 
never have been my intention, for the language in Dr. Din- 
shaw’s letter is mine. Won’t you please now forget the matter? 
Dr. Dinshaw and Jehangir Patel have been here for the last four- 
five days. I had long discussions with them. On the basis of 
that I am of opinion that if you wish to reject the Trust Deed 
you can do so now, you can also remove the Sanatorium. It 
will not involve any legal procedure or even arbitration. You 
may, if you want, make some addition to the present list of Dr. 
Dinshaw or have a talk with him. I can only say that if you 
want the Trust to stay you should donate to the Trust the land 
which I was occupying and where the patients were being treat- 
ed. This should also include the rear portion which was being 
used for the labourers. The place is not to be used for pro- 
ducing anything but only to be developed in case we have to 
accommodate a few people there for the sake of some patients. 
The rest of the land should be returned to you. Then it can- 
not have the Sanatorium either. It means that apart from the 
land and building I have asked for, you will use the portion 
which you are now occupying and which is included in the 
schedule. When I am free myself from the work here, the other 
trustees and I can live on the premises donated to the Trust. 
Dinshaw, his wife, mother and such other relatives as can be 
accommodated on the premises can live there; the Trust has 
recognized their right to reside on the premises. Jehangir says 
you have another complaint that Dr. Dinshaw does not at all 
intend to let me be your guest. This is not correct. If my 
suggestion is accepted, even if I stay in the house donated by 
you, I shall still be your guest because, if you wish, arrangements 
for goat’s milk, etc., will be made by you. Goats, etc., cannot 
be kept on the premises I expect from you. I may say one more 
thing, namely, that you are going to lose nothing by your 
donation to the Trust. Dr. Dinshaw has invested more than a 


13 



14 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


lakh in your property. He has also spent a substantial sum on 
the construction of bathrooms and a steamhouse, etc., on the 
premises I am asking for. If you take all the land these expen- 
sive additions will be of no use to you. Now you may do whatever 
you think proper. You can have a further talk in this connec- 
tion with Dr. Dinshaw and Jehangir. 

From a copy of the Hindi : Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy : Pyarelal 


15. A LETTER 


November 12, 1947 

I don’t know how long I shall have to stay here. Take it 
that I have to ‘do or die’. I have no middle course. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 262 


16. TALK WITH MUSLIM STUDENTS 


New Delhi, 

November 12, 1947 

Truly speaking, there should not be too many student or- 
ganizations. There should be one students’ body, and differences 
of caste and creed should have no place in it. In the present 
critical situation the Muslim students and youths, if they make 
up their minds, can render great service. You should say, ‘We 
are of course Muslims. You may not trust us. Still we entreat 
you to trust us for the moment and accept our services.’ If 
your hearts are pure and if you would serve India, there can be 
no better service than this at the present juncture. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, p. 263 



17. BROADCAST TO REFUGEES AT KURUKSHETRA CAMP^ 

November 12, 1947 

MY SUFFERING BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I do not know if it is only you or whether others too are 
listening in to me today. ^ This is only my second experience at 
the radio. My first was many years ago^ when I was in Lon- 
don for the Round Table Conference. Though I am speaking 
from the Broadcasting House, I am not interested in such talks. 
To suffer with the afflicted and try to relieve their suffering has 
been my life’s work. I hope, therefore, that you will accept 
this talk in that light. 

I was distressed when I heard that over two lakhs of refu- 
gees had arrived at Kurukshetra and more were pouring in. 
The moment the news came to me, I longed to be with you but 
I could not get away at once from Delhi because the Congress 
Working Committee meetings were being held and my presence 
was required. Seth Ghanshyamdas Birla suggested that I should 
broadcast a message to you and hence this talk. 

Quite by accident, Gen. Nathusingh who has organized the 
Kurukshetra Camp came to see me two days ago and told 
me about your sufferings. The Central Government asked the 
military to take over the organization of your Camp, not be- 
cause they wanted to coerce you in any way, but simply be- 
cause the military are used to doing such organization and know 
how to do so efficiently. 

Those who suffer know their sufferings best of all. Yours 
is not an ordinary camp where it is possible for everyone to 
know each other. Yours is really a city and your only bond 
with your co-refugees is your suffering. 

1 was sorry to learn that there is not that co-operation with 
authority or with your neighbours that there ought to be in 
order to make the Camp a success. I can serve you best by 
drawing attention to your shortcomings. That has been my life’s 

’ As Gandhiji was escorted to the studio he remarked: “You can regard 
me as an almost uncivilized person and tutor me about my talk.” Gandhiji 
spoke in Hindustani. 

2 The following two sentences are reproduced from The Hindustan Times. 

3 On September 13, 1931. Vide Vol. XLVIII, pp. 8-10. 


15 



16 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


motto, for therein lies true friendship and my service is not 
only for you or India; it extends to the world, for I know no 
barriers of race or creed. If you can get rid of your failings, you 
will benefit not only yourselves but the whole of India. 

It pains me to know that many of you are without shel- 
ter. This is a real hardship, particularly in the cold weather 
which is severe in the Punjab, and it is increasing daily. Your 
Government is trying to do everything it can for you. The bur- 
den is heaviest, of course, on your Prime Minister^ The Health 
Department which is served by RajkumarP and Dr. Jivraj Mehta^ 
is also working very hard to lighten your sufferings. No other 
government could have done better in this crisis. The calamity 
is immense and the Government too have its limitations. But 
it is up to you to face your sufferings with as much fortitude 
and patience as you can summon to your aid and as cheerfully 
as you can. 

Today is Diwali. But there can be no lighting of chirags^ 
for you or for anyone. Our Diwali will be best celebrated by 
service of you and you will celebrate it by living in your Gamp 
as brothers and looking upon everyone as your own. If you 
will do that you will come through victorious. 

The General told me of all that still needed to be done in 
Kurukshetra. He told me that no more refugees should be sent 
there. It seems as if there was no proper screening of refugees and 
it is hard to understand why they come and are dumped in 
various places without proper intimation to the local authority. 
In my post-prayer speech last evening I criticized the East 
Punjab Government for this state of affairs. I have just had a 
letter from one of their ministers to say that the fault is not 
theirs but the Central Government is responsible for it. 

Now that all governments, whether central or provincial, 
belong to the people, it does not befit one to throw the blame 
on the other. All must work together for the general good. I tell 
you this in order that you may realize your own responsibility also. 

You must help in the maintenance of discipline in the Camp. 
You must take the sanitation of the place in your hands. I have 

*Jawaharlal Nehru 

^ Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Minister for Health in the Union Cabinet 

^ Gandhiji’s personal physician; Director-General of Health Services, 
Government of India, 1947; Dewan of Baroda, 1948-49; Minister of Public 
Works in Bombay, 1952, and later of Finance; Ghief Minister of Gujarat, 
1960-63; High Commissioner in London, 1963-66 
Earthen lamps 



BROADCAST TO REFUGEES AT KURUKSHETRA CAMP 


17 


known the Punjab well since the Martial Law daysh I know the 
good qualities and failings of the Punjabis. One of them, and 
that is not confined to the Punjab alone, is the utter lack of 
knowledge of social hygiene and sanitation. Therefore it is that I 
have often said that we must all become Harijans. If we do, we 
shall grow in stature. I ask you, therefore, to help your doctors 
and your Camp officials — every one of you, men, women and 
even children — to keep Kurukshetra clean. 

The next thing I want to ask you to do is to share your 
rations. Be content with what you get. Do not take or demand 
more than your share. Community kitchens are a thing which 
should be cultivated. In this way too you can serve each other. 

1 must also draw your attention to the danger of refugees get- 
ting accustomed to eating the bread of idleness. They are apt to 
think that it is Government’s duty to do everything for them. 
Government’s duty is certainly there but that does not mean 
that your own duty ceases. You must live for others and not 
only for yourselves. Idleness is demoralizing for everyone and it 
will certainly not help us successfully to get over this crisis. 

A sister from Goa came to see me the other day and I was 
delighted to learn from her that many women in your Camp 
are anxious to spin. It is good to have the desire to do creative 
work which helps. You must all refuse to be a burden on the 
State. You must be as sugar is to milk. You will become one 
with your surroundings and thus help to share with your Govern- 
ment the burden that has fallen on them. All camps should 
really be self-supporting but perhaps that may be too high an 
ideal to place before you today. All the same I do ask you not 
to despise any work but rejoice in doing anything that comes 
your way in order to serve and thus make Kurukshetra an ideal 
place. 

The response to my appeal for warm clothing and quilts and 
blankets^ has been very good. People have responded well to the 
Sardar’s^ appeal too. Your share of these is also there. But if 
you quarrel among yourselves and some take more than their due, 
it will not be well with you. Your suffering is grave even now 
but wrong action will make it even worse. 

Finally, I am not one of those who believe that you who 
have left your lands and homes in Pakistan have been uprooted 

^ In April-May 1919 

2 Vide Vol. LXXXIX, pp. 283-5. 

^ Vallabhbhai Patel, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister-in-charge, Home, 
States and Information and Broadcasting 

90-2 



18 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


from there for all time. Nor do I believe that such will be the 
case with the thousands of Muslims who have been obliged to leave 
India. I for one shall not rest content and will do all that lies in 
my power to see that all are reinstated and are ahle to return 
with honour and safety from where they have today been driven 
out. I shall continue as long as I live to work for this end. The 
dead cannot be brought back to life, but we can work for those 
who are alive. If we do not do so it will be an eternal blot on 
both India and Pakistan and therein will lie ruin for both of us. 

Harijan, 23-11-1947. Also The Hindustan Times, 14-11-1947 

18. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 12, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Today is Diwali and I congratulate all of you on the occasion. 
It is a great day in the Hindu calendar. According to the Vikram 
Samvat, New Year begins tomorrow on Thursday’. You must 
understand why Diwali is celebrated every year with illuminations. 
In the great battle between Rama and Ravana, Rama symbolized 
the forces of good and Ravana the forces of evil. Rama con- 
quered Ravana and this victory established Ramarajya in India. 

But alas! Today there is no Ramarajya in India. So how can 
we celebrate Diwali? Only those who have Rama within can 
celebrate this victory. For, God alone can illumine our souls and 
only that light is real light. The bhajarH that was sung today 
emphasizes the poet’s^ desire to see God. Crowds of people go 
to see artificial illumination but what we need today is the light 
of love in our hearts. We must kindle the light of love within. 
Then only would we deserve congratulations. Today thousands are 
in acute distress. Can you, everyone of you, lay your hand on 
your heart and say that every sufferer, whether Hindu, Sikh or 
Muslim, is your own brother or sister? This is the test for you. 
Rama and Ravana are symbols of the unending struggle be- 
tween the forces of good and evil. True light comes from within. 

With what a sad heart has Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru returned 
after seeing wounded Kashmiri He was unable to attend the 

’ According to the Gujarati calendar 

^ “Light thy heart and sweep out from there evil thoughts and anger.” 
Vide Vol. XLIV, p. 463, hymn 251. 

^ Ranchhod 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


19 


Working Committee meeting yesterday and also this afternoon. 
He has brought some flowers from Baramula* for me. I always 
cherish such gifts of nature. But today loot, arson and bloodshed 
have spoiled the beauty of that lovely land. Jawaharlal had been 
to Jammu also. There too all is not well. 

Sardar Patel had to go to Junagadh at the request of Shri 
Shamaldas Gandhi and DhebarbhaP who had sought his advice. 
Both Jinnah and Bhutto are angry because they feel that the 
Indian Government has deceived them and is pressing Juna- 
gadh to accede to the Union. 

It is the duty of everyone to banish hatred and suspicion 
from his heart in order to establish peace and goodwill in the 
country. If you do not feel the presence of God within you and 
do not forget your petty internal quarrels, success in Kashmir or 
Junagadh would prove futile. Diwali cannot be celebrated till 
you bring back all the Muslims who have fled in fear. Pakistan 
also would not survive if it does not do likewise with the Hindus 
and Sikhs who have run away from there. ^ 

Tomorrow I shall tell you what I can about the Congress 
Working Committee. May you and all India be happy in the 
new year which begins on Thursday. May God illumine your 
hearts so that you can serve not only each other or India but the 
whole world. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 69-71 


' After a brutal attack by the raiders the town was recaptured by 
the Indian troops. 

^ U. N. Dhebar (1905-77); organized Rajkot Mill Kamdar Mazdoor 
Sangh; Minister of Saurashtra, 1948, President, Indian National Congress, 
1955-59; Chairman, Scheduled Tribe Areas Commission, 1960; elected to Lok 
Sabha, 1962; President of Bharatiya Adim Jati Sangh, 1962-64 

^ Gandhiji then referred to his visit to the Broadcasting House. 



19. LETTER TO MANIBHAI B. DESAI 


New Delhi, 

November 12, 1947 

CHI. MANIBHAI, 

I have your letter of the 5th. I had a long discussion with 
Dr. Dinshaw and Jehangir Patel. 

I am glad that the inauguration is to be done by Kakasahebb 

Tell all the friends at Uruli that I am both happy and sorry 
that I shall not be able to attend the function. I am happy be- 
cause the work I am doing here is also, according to me, part 
of the work that is being done at Uruli; for, the nature cure of 
my conception includes treatment of both body and mind. If we 
look at the matter from that point of view, curing the people 
here of their psychological perversion is bound to have an effect 
in Uruli also and would serve as a fine illustration of nature cure. 

I am not sorry that Gokhale and Paramanand have left. It 
will be enough if Dr. Bhagwat^ stays on. I should be glad if 
Dhiru clings to the institution till the end and observes all the 
rules, too. But I will be satisfied if at least Balkoba^ and you'^ 
remain. That is, I should be very pleased even if you alone decide 
to dedicate your life to Uruli. By and by you will find other 
workers from the local population. I should think it a disgrace 
to have to import workers from outside. It would mean failure of 
nature cure. 

The present heavy burden on you will not last. You should 
admit only as many patients as you can easily look after. If you 
can persuade some young men there to volunteer their services, 
you can train them. You will need a woman worker from outside. 
By yourself, you will not be able to attract any woman worker 
from among the local people. Let us see what the future brings. 

The division into nature cure, village uplift work and Ashram 
life seems all right to me. But from the point of view of nature 

* D. B. Kalelkar (1885-1981); educationist, litterateur and a close asso- 
ciate of Gandhiji; Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith, 1928-36; President, 
Hindustani Prachar Sabha 

^ Dr. A. K. Bhagwat 

^ Balkrishna Bhave, younger brother of Vinoba Bhave 
The addressee was manager of the Nature Cure Clinic at Uruli Kanchan 


20 



LETTER TO MANIBHAI B. DESAI 


21 


cure the three are indivisible. When you develop nature cure to 
its highest potential, it will include village uplift work also. 
And I cannot conceive of nature cure for village people which 
does not imply the Ashram ideal of life. If you start cultivation 
work through the institution itself and with the help of paid 
labourers, I think you will have to repent it in the end. But 
notwithstanding this view of mine, I shall accept what all of 
you decide to do after careful thinking. 

Since Bhansali’ sees a flaw in the offer of the donation, I 
would prefer to decline it. It seems pointless to me to accept the 
thing on a ninety-nine-year lease. 

Jehangir told me about everybody. 

I have already tried to explain why we should prefer cows 
to buffaloes. If Balkrishna cannot collect the required amount, 
forget about that scheme. The matter is not worth worrying 
about at all. I shall be able to say more after I know the final 
outcome. 

It would be best, of course, if Premabehn^ undertakes some 
work there on behalf of the Kasturba Memorial Fund. But we 
can assume no financial liability for such work. You may permit 
her to do what she can within the limits of the Kasturba Fund. 

Do not entertain any hope of being able to get an expert 
on nature cure from outside. Acquire whatever knowledge you 
yourself can. If Dhiru stays there, he also should become pro- 
ficient in it. He already knows a little. 

If you get any nature-cure expert who does not agree to 
abide by the Ashram rules, I will not accept him as suitable for 
our purpose. I will write to Dr. Bhagwat afterwards, as also 
to Balkrishna. 

I am dictating this at night. I must not overexert myself 
now. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati : C. W. 2723. Courtesy : Manibhai B. Desai 


’ Jayakrishna P. Bhansali 

^ Prema Kantak, Agent of Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust 
Maharashtra 



20. NO INCONSISTENCY 


A subscriber to the Harijan presents as follows what appears 
to him to be a conundrum to which I have sent the following 
reply : 

The other day you admitted* that you had not seen God face to 
face. In the Preface^ to My Experiments with Truth you have stated that 
you have seen God in the embodiment of Truth from a far distance. 
The two statements appear to be incompatible. Kindly elucidate for 
proper understanding. 

There is a big gulf between ‘seeing God face to face’ and 
‘seeing Him in the embodiment of Truth from a far distance’. 
In my opinion the two statements are not only not incompatible 
but each explains the other. We see the Himalayas from a very 
great distance and when we are on the top we have seen the 
Himalayas face to face. Millions can see them from hundreds of 
miles away if they are within the range of that seeing distance, 
but few having arrived at the top after years of travel see them 
face to face. This does not seem to need elucidation in the 
columns of the Harijan. Nevertheless, I send your letter and my 
reply for publication in the Harijan, lest there may be some like 
you who think that there is any inconsistency between the two 
statements quoted by you. 

November 13, 1947 
Harijan, 23-11-1947 


1 Vide Vol. LXXXVIII, p. 407. 

2 Vide Vol. XXXIX, pp. 1-5. 


22 



21. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 13, 1947 

The New Year commences from today. Of course you have 
my blessings. But it would seem my blessings have no value 
these days. May God grant us new strength and wisdom so that 
we may overcome our present madness. 

What shall I write about language? My view is clear, namely, 
the national language should be such as can be spoken by mil- 
lions of our countrymen. But we behave, knowingly or unknow- 
ingly, as if it was our birthright to oppose and contest every 
issue. As a result, we are able to achieve nothing. Though I do 
like to face such difficulties and am able to overcome them also, 
have you ever considered how much of our energy and time is 
wasted over this? Often a person who raises opposition is consi- 
dered to be a leader and, therefore, those who aspire to become 
leaders oppose things. But we are what we are and we have to 
find a way out of the existing difficulties. 

“The path is surrounded by thick darkness; will that arrest 
your step?”' 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 270 


22. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 13, 1947 

. . The restoration of peace in Calcutta was due to the 
Muslims there and the credit should go to them.^ Suhrawardy 
and his co-workers had helped me there. The situation in 
Delhi is quite different. Here I don’t find a single responsible 
Muslim who can approach the Hindus, if only to die, or whose 

' A Bengali song by Rabindranath Tagore 

^ Omission as in the source 

^ At the instance of Muslim friends Gandhiji had prolonged his stay in 
Calcutta in August, 1947. He stayed with H. S. Suhrawardy, the ex-Chief 
Minister of Bengal, under a Muslim roof in a disturbed area and they went 
round together to establish harmony between the two communities. Vide 
also Vol. LXXXIX, p. 116. 


23 



24 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


word weighs with the Muslims. Maulana Saheb* and the nation- 
alist Muslims have also lost this strength. Hence my work here 
is much more difhcult than it was in Calcutta. I am doubtful 
whether I shall fulfil my vow of doing something here. But my 
other vow, that of dying, will certainly be fulfilled. For that I 
have not the least worry. May God take from me whatever work 
He intends me to do. 

If all of you stay there and carry on constructive work, it 
will certainly have its impact. We had recognized the need for 
constructive work when we were slaves. We will need it many 
times more to transform swaraj into surajya^. Let not anyone think 
that the 18-point programme^ is of no use now that we have 
attained freedom. 

Today is the New Year day. May God light our path and 
cleanse our impure hearts. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 271 


23. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 13, 1947 

I have your letter. I was very much pained to read it. . . 
Where are we going today? What is happening to us? I fail 
to understand why we think or say that we should not have a 
single Muslim in our country. If that happens, let me tell you 
that you will once again be slaves. I intentionally write “you” 
because I do not wish to see slavery again. I hope God will take 
me away before such a day comes. 

Today is our New Year day. May God grant good sense to 
all of us and guide us on the right path. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, pp. 270-1 


’ Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958); President, All-India Khilafat Com- 
mittee, 1920; President of Unity Conference (Delhi), 1924; President, Indian 
National Congress, 1923 and 1940-46; Minister for Education in the Union 
Cabinet 

^ Good government 

^ For Gandhiji’s booklet on the Constructive Programme, vide Vol. 
LXXV, pp. 146-66. 

Omission as in the source 



24. TALK WITH DAHYABHAI AND TASHODA FATED 


New Delhi, 

November 13, 1947 

I do not wish to be sarcastic but this language slavery has 
gone so deep that one begins to wonder. When even Sardar 
Vallabhbhai Patel’s daughter-in-law, who, poor thing, certainly 
does not know much English, is so obsessed with teaching her 
son English words, what am I to say of others? It makes me un- 
happy. If mothers could solve this question of language we 
could be free of English and develop the national language. 
Without doubt English is a very rich and beautiful language. 
And if one learns it or teaches it out of love for it I should have 
no objection. But thus to impose words on an innocent child 
is nothing but an instance of our deep-rooted and incurable 
slavery. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 272-3 

25. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 13, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Yesterday was Diwali and today is the New Year. I have 
heard and I heard it all the more yesterday that Delhi has great 
illuminations on Diwali day which perhaps beat even the illumi- 
nations in Bombay. There are magnificent illuminations in 
Bombay every year. I was pleased to hear that people had 
realized that this is not the time to celebrate Diwali. But the 
superstition still persists that there should be at least some lights 
on Diwali day. Hence, oil lamps were seen at some places. There 
were some electric lights, too, though very few. I do not go out 
but I get all the information. 

^ They had come to Gandhiji with their little son. On Gandhiji’s 
offering him a piece of bread the mother insisted that the child should say 
‘thank you’. 


25 



26 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


The new year begins today. I had already mentioned it 
yesterday, but I may as well refer to it again. On New Year 
day we make some pious resolutions and by the grace of God 
try to follow them all through the year. If we do this, and if 
the atmosphere prevailing today changes and the Hindus and 
Muslims live together in amity, we shall have a right to cele- 
brate the next Diwali with illuminations. We can accomplish 
nothing by regarding one another as enemies. That is why I 
stressed that this is no occasion for an outward celebration of 
Diwali. We should try to illumine our hearts. Rama resides in 
our hearts and there is a continuous battle between Rama and 
Ravana raging inside us. If, in our hearts and not outside, Ravana 
triumphs over Rama, it means that there is no light but dark- 
ness in our hearts. If, instead, it is Rama who triumphs over 
Ravana, then there is indeed light in our hearts and this entitles 
us to have illuminations outside as well. Hence, all is well if the 
light outside is the symbol of the light within. Instead, if there is 
darkness in our hearts and we have illuminations outside and try 
to convince ourselves that everything is fine, we are hypocrites 
and liars. I only hope that we are never untruthful. 

I told you yesterday that I would say something about the 
meetings of Congress Working Committee. There was no 
time yesterday because I did not want to take more than fifteen 
minutes. Today is the third day of the Congress Working Com- 
mittee meeting. It is still in session. One important thing that 
I am entitled to tell you is that the members of the Working 
Committee and others’ who have been specially invited by Acharya 
Kripalani^ have been sitting together in the meetings for the 
last three days. It is a good thing that they are unanimously of 
the opinion that it has been the policy of the Congress since its 
inception, that is, for the last sixty years, that Congress is not an 
institution that propagates any particular religion. There are 
people of all religions in the Congress or, say, because it belongs to 
people of different religions, it does not belong to any one parti- 
cular religion. It is an organization of the masses and it has 

’ The special invitees to the Congress Working Committee meeting were : 
B. G. Kher, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, S. K. Patil, Jayaprakash Narayan, Kamaraj 
Nadar, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Prof. N. G. Ranga. 

^J. B. Kripalani (1888-1982); Principal, Gujarat Vidyapith, 1920-27, 
General Secretary of the Indian National Congress, 1934-45; its President, 
1946-47; Member, Constituent Assembly; started the Krishak Mazdoor Praja 
Party which later merged into the Praja Socialist Party; resigned from the 
Praja Socialist Party in 1954 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


27 


to function only for political goals. It does not remain a religious 
body if it functions that way. Supposing one of the policies of 
the Congress is to provide food to all the people, to be true to its 
name it must provide food for everybody. If the Congress provides 
food only to those who are with it or, say, only to the Hindus 
and the Sikhs because they are in a majority and allows others 
to starve and says that it is not bothered about them, it would 
be a religious body superficially but in fact it would become an 
irreligious organization. If it advocates service of only those who 
are its followers and wants others to be killed, it would not be 
dharma, but adharma} in the name of dharma. 

If I am a worshipper of Rama and do not worship any god, 
the law cannot force me to do so. It is another matter if I act 
against my faith or become a coward and say that a particular 
man is carrying a sword and that if I do not obey him he would 
kill me. But, if I am not a coward, when I am forced to worship 
Allah instead of Rama, I should have, and I have, a right to 
insist that I would worship only Rama and not Allah. All that 
the other person can do is to cut my throat. Let him do so. 
Then it is a matter of faith, which we call personal or individual 
dharma. There is no power on earth which can destroy one’s 
personal dharma. Of course, it can be destroyed when the indi- 
vidual himself wants to do it, or when, instead of light, there is 
only darkness in one’s heart. In such circumstances, when 
he cannot make up his mind he takes help from someone or 
just follows the bidding of some other person because he is sur- 
rounded by darkness. But the person who is steadfast in his 
faith would listen to the command only of God and none else. 
Likewise, when an organization functions for the welfare of the 
people, only the things which are consistent with dharma apply 
to everybody and nothing else. And in this way it embodies 
dharma and not adharma. That, in my view, is the true meaning 
of politics and the Congress has followed this from the time of 
its inception. You should be happy that it is so, whether you 
belong to the Congress or not. Even I do not belong to the 
Congress. But so what? After all, I have been a Congress 
worker and have served it. What does it matter if I do not pay 
four annas for membership? I must pay the membership fee of 
four annas if I want to be its President. But that is not the 
question. If all of you think like me, it is really remarkable. It 
is good if you have registered yourselves as Congress members. It 


* Contrary to dharma 



28 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


is well, too, if you are serving the Congress from outside. I 
have been sitting with the Congress Working Committee for the 

past three days. There are many differences of opinion in the 

Working Committee. The members are human beings after all, 
they are not stones. One member says one thing and another 
member says something else. There may be differences of opin- 
ion, but there should be no contradiction in behaviour. That 
is why they spent three days in discussing these differences. 
But they are all united about one thing, that is, that the Cong- 
ress should continue to be what it has been so far. If in the 

process it has to perish, let it perish. Of course it cannot be 
completely wiped out, though it can remain in minority. And 
I doubt if it is in majority at present. For there should have 
been no Pakistan if the Congress were in majority. I can quote 
many instances to show how much the Muslims have been op- 
pressed in India. But what should I say? You know more than 
I do. Have the Hindus and the Sikhs in Pakistan been oppres- 
sed less? But let us not talk about it. It is not for us to think 
of those things. Should I stop following my religion because 
others in the world do not adhere to theirs? That is why the 
Congress, whether it is in majority or minority, must adhere to 
its original objective. It is framing its resolutions from that 
point of view. It wants to present its views in a straightfor- 
ward, sincere manner. What can be more straightforward 
than that we do not wish to compel a single Muslim to go 
away from here? The point is not whether the Muslims are 
good or bad. Can we claim that only angels have a right to 
live in India, and, if not angels, only good people can remain 
here? And, if only the good people can live here, are there no 
bad or wicked people among the Hindus and the Sikhs? And 
if there are wicked people among them, what would you say to 
them? Would you order them to leave and threaten to cut 
their throats with a sword if they refused to oblige? You have 
no right to consider anybody wicked or to kill him. We have 
committed excesses against the Muslims. There may be some 
exaggeration in the reports I receive every day. But ultimately 
I find that there is truth in those reports. When anything is 
done in the name of the Congress, the A. I. C. C. has to be sum- 
moned. The plenary session of the Congress is held once a year. 
It is like a big show and because there is such a big crowd nobody 
can even think clearly. But they know that the A. I. C. C. 
carries on its work with due deliberation and so they put 
their seal on what it does. Thus the A. I. C. C. is always on 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


29 


the alert. It is going to meet the day after tomorrow. It is 
the Working Committee which has to place the agenda before 
the A. I. C. C. It is subservient to the A. I. C. C. If the Working 
Committee does not place the agenda before it, then the A. I. C. C. 
can say that they have not functioned well and the members of 
the Working Committee have to resign. The A. I. C. C. can form 
the Working Committee or terminate it. If the A. I. C. C. does 
not accept its proposals or makes great amendments to those 
proposals, then also it should resign. That is why the Working 
Committee says that it wants to do everything in the name of 
the A. I. C. C. If it does anything in its own name, it does not 
have the same effect. For, what is the use of 15 individuals 
proclaiming that not a single Muslim should be killed? If the 
same thing is done in the name of the A. I. C. C., its effect is 
much greater. That is why I have been advising the Congress 
Working Committee for the past three days that it should cate- 
gorically state that this is the only thing it wishes to carry out. 
Let us not worry if this pleases the people or displeases them. 
If we are true servants of the Congress, then this is the only 
thing we have to do. Let the A. I. C. C. brush it aside if it so 
wishes. After all we, and also Pakistan, have to stand before 
the world. We do many things because we are worried about 
what the world may say. I would say that you should do only 
what you think is correct. Then the world too would regard it 
as correct. It is said that the word of the Panch^ is like the word 
of God. The world is like the Punch. That is why what the 
world says is divine justice in the true sense. 

The Working Committee is in session today. It would be 
meeting again tomorrow. It is my prayer that it should place 
before the A. I. C. C. such a resolution which would bring victory 
to India and everybody would be able to live in peace here. 
It does not mean that we should let the traitors do as they 
please. But we should not take it for granted that a particular 
person is a traitor. If someone is proved to be a traitor, you 
may kill him, hang him, shoot him. But if you say that no 
Muslim can ever be loyal or that only the Hindus and the Sikhs 
have a monopoly of loyalty, then I would say that it would be 
a grave thing. I am confident that the Congress would never 
do such a thing. You must also pray that through the advice 
of the Congress we and the whole country as well as other parts 
of the world rise high. The Congress is meant only to raise 

^ Elected members of a village panchayat; also, an arbitrator 



30 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


the country high. But the Congress does not wish to raise it- 
self by depriving anybody of his wealth or other property. The 
Congress would die for the sake of the whole world, but would 
not kill anyone. This has been the objective of the Congress, 
not since I entered it, but for many years. The Congress has 
tried to prevent the Europeans who come here from looting the 
country, so that people of Asia and Africa could live in peace. 
India has to remain alive for this purpose. It is for this that 
India has attained her independence and for no other purpose. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan— II, pp. 71-7 

26. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

Birla House, New Delhi, 

November 14, 1947 

For the last few days meetings of the Working Committee 
have been going on. Its resolutions, I am sure, will be good. 
How far they will be put into practice God only knows. My 
suggestion is that, in so far as the Congress was intended solely 
to achieve swaraj and that purpose has been gained — personally 
I do not think that what we have gained is swaraj but at 
least it is so in name — this organization should be wound up 
and we should put to use all the energies of the country. 
In this way we shall be able to do a great deal. For instance, 
Jayaprakash' has immense energy. But he does not come 
forward because of party considerations. I therefore feel that if 
the country can get the benefit of whatever energy each one of 
us has, it will prosper. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 278 


* Jayaprakash Narayan (1902-79); one of the founders of the All- 
India Congress Socialist Party; member, Congress Working Committee, 1936; 
leading member of the Socialist Party and the Praja Socialist Party; joined 
the Bhoodan and the Sarvodaya movements 



27. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 14, 1947 

. . In no other country are widows insulted as much as 
they are in our country. But I place widows in the category 
of spiritual riskis. I do not have the least hesitation in advising 
you and other sisters to organize yourselves and see that if 
widows are not allowed to be present on auspicious occasions, 
or if restrictions are imposed on their diet or dress, the same 
rules apply to widowers. It is another matter if a wife 
voluntarily makes a sacrifice on the death of her husband. 
But I have no doubt that the rigidity of social customs and 
conventions must be broken. 

I am keeping well. I am dictating this letter to Chi. Manu. 
I am lying under a covering because it is cold. It is now 5.30 
a. m. I snatch a nap while dictating letters. The work in Delhi 
is arduous. God will do what He chooses. Why should we 
worry over it? However, I think some untoward events are 
taking place. I expect you will understand a lot from these few 
words. A word is enough for the wise. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 278-9 


* Omission as in the source 


31 



28. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


November 14, 1947 

I have no doubt at all that so long as prominent people 
do not propagate Hindustani, it will decline. That means that 
our culture will die. It is our misfortune that these days in 
our homes father and son and brothers and sisters speak only 
English. Not even their own mother tongue! When the ocean 
is on fire who can put out the fire? 

Tours, 

M. K. Gandhi 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, p. 279 


29. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 14, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

When I was on fast* in the Aga Khan Palace which was 
turned into a jail to imprison me, Sarojini Devi^, Mirabehn^ and 
MahadevbhaP, this bhajart’ had captured me. Here I do not wish 
to go into the causes of the fast. 

1 would like to mention only one thing in that connec- 
tion, and it is that I survived for 21 days not because of the 
amount of water I used to drink, or the orange juice which I 
took for some days, or the extraordinary medical care, but be- 
cause I had installed in my heart God whom I call Rama. I 
was so much attracted by the lines of this bhajan that I in- 
structed the persons concerned to send me the correct words by 

* From February 10 to March 3, 1943; vide Vol. LXXVII. 

2 Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949); poetess and orator; President of the Indian 
National Congress in 1925; Governor of U. P., 1947-49 

^ Nee Madeleine Slade; joined Gandhiji in 1925 
Mahadev Desai (1892-1942); Gandhiji’s private secretary from 1917 till 
his death on August 15, 1942 

5 4il ^ fldtt 314^ I “I depend solely on my Rama, 

all others are of no avail,” a bhajan by Tulsidas 

32 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


33 


telegram, as I had forgotten those words at the time. I was 
very happy when I received the whole bhajan by reply telegram. 
The essence of the bhajan is that Ramanama is everything and 
other gods count for nothing compared to Him. I am mention- 
ing this instructive episode in my life because I want the A. I. C. C. 
members to think and deliberate with God in their hearts when 
they meet for the important session on Saturday. They will 
have to do so because they are representatives of all Congress- 
men. Hence, if the leading Congressmen have Satan instead of 
God in their hearts they are not true to their salt. 

The Working Committee discussed for full three hours the 
resolutions to be placed before the A. I. C. C. During the discus- 
sion the question arose as to how the Hindu and the Sikh re- 
fugees could be honourably and safely sent back to their homes 
in West Punjab. They came to the conclusion that the trouble 
started from the Pakistan side, but they also realized that when 
the wrong was copied on such a large scale and when the Hindus 
and the Sikhs resorted to acts of retaliation in East Punjab 
and the adjoining areas of the Union, the question of where 
the trouble started became insignificant. If the A. I. C. C. could 
claim with confidence that so far as the Indian Union was con- 
cerned, the days of madness were over and sanity reigned from 
one end of the Union to the other, the Committee could also 
say that the Dominion of Pakistan would be obliged to call back 
the Hindu and Sikh refugees with honour and safety. Such a 
situation can be created only when all Hindus and Sikhs install 
Rama in their hearts instead of Ravana. For, when you drive 
Satan out of your hearts and give up the present madness, every 
Muslim child will be able to move about with as much freedom 
as a Hindu or a Sikh child. Then, I have no doubt, the 
Muslim refugees who have left their homes under duress will 
gladly come over and the way will be cleared for the honourable 
and safe return of the Hindu and Sikh refugees to Pakistan. 

Will my words have an echo in your hearts and will the 
A. I. C. C. be able to come to a wise and just conclusion? 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 78-9 


90-3 



30. MESSAGE TO STUDENTS' PEACE CONEERENCE'- 

New Delhi, 
[On or before November 15, 1947Y 

An auspicious deed needs no blessings, for it is ever blessed. 
The Hindustan Times, 16-11-1947 

31. LETTER TO MATHURADAS TRIKUMJI 

November 15, 1947 

I know that I cannot realize Truth if I get impatient. 
That in the judgment of the world I may seem to have overcome 
my ego is of little consequence. And if that belief is not true, 
my realization of ahimsa and truth is imperfect. Then the argu- 
ment about the success of ahimsa does not arise at all. Where 
ahimsa is perfect, there can be no failure. One must, therefore, 
conclude that whenever ahimsa is found to have failed, that 
ahimsa cannot be perfect. Who is qualified to pass judgment 
as to its success or failure is of course another matter. I 
myself cannot see the traces of ego and impatience that may 
be lurking within me. Only other people can observe them to 
some extent. But God alone sees the whole truth. I should not 
give the slightest impression, either, that I rebuke the Hindus 
more than the Muslims. 

[From Gujarati] 

Bapuni Prasadi, p. 221 


* & 2 The Conference began at Agra on November 15. 


34 



32. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 15, 1947 

I find that God keeps me wide awake these days. How 
grateful I am! I often think how blind I was years ago; or 
was it that God had deliberately made me blind? If I say 
that, however, I think I would be trying to avoid blame in a 
subtle way; hence only the first half of the previous sentence 
is correct. You are a student of the Vedas and the Shastras 
and therefore, I presume, you will understand what I mean. 

Recently there was an incident. I have with me two young 
girls. They are almost of the same age; but not of equal edu- 
cation. One of them, it may be said, was brought up by me at 
Aga Khan Palace since her childhood. She is my grand- 
daughter. The other . . .* is also a close relation. I have put 
Ghi. Manu to various tests in Noakhali. She is younger than 
... by one year. It must be said that by now Chi. Manu has 
learnt a good many things. But I have not been able to im- 
press even the importance of prayer on ... It is more desirable 
that we accept her as she is, rather than that I should forcibly 
wake her up or make her do things that please me. I there- 
fore indulge her. But I have to look into my own heart to 
ascertain whether it is awake or sleeping. You must have seen 
my speech of yesterday. I do not think it will produce any 
effect. When a girl like . . . cannot see the importance of prayer, 
how can people understand what I said? God will do what 
He pleases. I consider it a good omen that my faith is grow- 
ing every day. I hope you take good care of your health. 
You have still to do much work. And you must aspire to live 
for 150 years. How is nature cure progressing? I must do or 
die here. So there is no middle path. 

Blessings to all. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, pp. 284-5 


’ The name has been omitted in the source. 


35 



33. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 15, 1947 

. . I must admit that there are differences of opinion 
between the two. . . No one can have any objection to mere 
differences of opinion. But it is bad when personal relations 
become strained on account of that. I am trying to make them 
see this. Not that what I say will be of any avail. And 
though I know all this, still I have to do or die in Delhi. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — p. 286 


34. LETTER TO CHANDRANI 


New Delhi, 

November 15, 1947 

CHI. CHAND, 

What a girl you are! Dev^ arrived here only today; he will 
leave after two or three days’ stay here. Your mother must 
have reached there. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: Chandrani Papers. Courtesy: Gandhi 
National Museum and Library 


* & ^ Omissions as in the source 
3 Dev Prakash Nayyar 


36 



35. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


November 15, 1947 

The more I look within the more I feel that God is with 
me. He does not have two hands and two feet. My God is 
Formless and Faultless and it is He who is giving me strength. 
These days the Working Gommittee meeting is going on and 
I am doing some plain speaking with them. We shall perish if 
we become cowards, that is, the Congress will die. I have no 
doubt about this. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 285-6 

36. SPEECH AT A. I. C.C. MEETING 

November 15, 1947 

I have come in your midst today. I came to Delhi* not 
to stay for long, but since my arrival many things have happened 
which should not have happened. And so I have had to pro- 
long my stay here instead of proceeding to the Punjab. This 
explains my presence in your midst today. 

I had made a vow to do or die. When the occasion comes 
I shall indeed either do or die. I have seen enough to realize 
that though not all of us have gone mad, a sufficiently large 
number have lost their heads. What is responsible for this wave 
of insanity? Whatever the cause, it is obvious to me that if we 
do not cure ourselves of this insanity, we shall lose the freedom 
we have won. You must understand and recognize the gravity 
of the plight we are in. Under the shadow of this impending 
misfortune the A. I. C. C. has met today. You have to face very 
serious problems and apply your minds to them. 

There is the General Body of the Congress which meets once 
every year, but it is more or less demonstrative in character. The 
real Congress is the All-India Congress Committee, in whose 
keeping is the honour of the Congress. It is for you to give a lead 


On September 9 


37 



38 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


to the Congress and to see that it functions eifectively and with- 
out any disruption within its ranks. That is why I want you to 
be true to the basic character of the Congress and make Hindus 
and Muslims one, for which ideal the Congress has worked 
for more than sixty years. This ideal still persists. The Congress 
had never maintained that it worked for the interest of the 
Hindus only. Must we now give up what we have claimed ever 
since the Congress was born and sing a different tune ? Congress 
is of Indians, of all those who inhabit this land, whether they 
are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs or Parsis. There have been 
Muslims, Christians and Parsis as Presidents of the Congress. 
But today we hear a different cry. Let me tell you that what we 
hear today is not the voice of the Congress. 

You represent the vast ocean of Indian humanity. You will 
not allow it to be said that the Congress consists of a handful of 
people who rule the country. At least I will not allow it. I am 
an Indian to the last. Ever since I returned from South Africa 
I have tried to serve the Congress in every way and have done 
nothing else. I have tried to understand Indians from different 
walks of life, have lived with them, eaten with them and loved 
them. I have seen no difference between Harijans and other 
Hindus. That is how I am made. 

The Congress is held responsible for whatever happens to- 
day. The situation has changed since August 15. I am leaving 
out of consideration what happened before that date. I do not 
wish to hear what part you played in the events that have 
happened since August 15. I have not the right to sit here. 
I have much work to do outside this hall. That is why I had 
requested that I might be allowed to have my say and then take 
your leave. You might ask me any questions you like at the 
end of my speech, though there ought to be no necessity for such 
questions. I wish only to show you a little of the way so that 
you might find it easier to carry on your deliberations. 

When we were fighting for our freedom, we bore a heavy 
responsibility, but today when we have achieved freedom, our 
responsibility has grown a hundred-fold. What is happening to- 
day? Though it is not true of the whole of India, yet there are 
many places today where a Muslim cannot live in security. There 
are miscreants who will kill him or throw him out of a running 
train for no reason other than that he is a Muslim. There are 
several such instances. I will not be satisfied with your saying 
that there was no help for it or that you had no part in it. We 
cannot absolve ourselves of our responsibility for what has 



SPEECH AT A. I. C. C. MEETING 


39 


happened. I have to fight against this insanity and find out a 
cure for it. I know and I confess that I have not yet found it. 

In Calcutta I was able to achieve a measure of success. 
I was to go to Noakhali. Suhrawardy wanted me to go there. 
But I said to him, “How can I go there when there is a fire raging 
here?” He replied that it was beyond his capacity to control 
the flames, but that I could do so. I did achieve some result in 
Calcutta. Peace is a simple thing which has become most diffi- 
cult to achieve. Today we are reduced to such a state that not 
even an old man or a child feels safe, if he happens to be a 
Muslim. Under such circumstances we have met today. I have 
enough experience of such misfortunes and if you allow me and 
have the patience to hear me, I will say what I have to say. 
Then if you feel like it, you may do what I suggest. 

Today your President Kripalani desires to hand over the 
responsibility of his office to other hands. You should accede to 
his request and select a new President. Twice or perhaps more 
than twice before this Kripalani had asked to be relieved of his 
office. I do not wish to know the reason for his resignation, 
though I would wish you to know it. What he has said is true.' 
In due course fresh elections for the president[ship] will be held 
when the annual session of the Congress meets. It is a matter of 
about four months. But even if the difference was only of ten 
days, I would still plead with you to relieve him, since he feels 
that he is unable to discharge his functions effectively. It is a 
law of nature that when a thing is not done well, it is ill done. 
You would not wish to have a President in whose hands your 
affairs go awry. It is beyond his power to create conditions where 
not a single Muslim’s life will be unsafe in India. Those who 
say that since it is a matter of four months only, why not let 
the status quo continue, do not know what the nation is facing 
today. If you realize the seriousness of the situation, it is your 
duty to relieve Kripalani. He himself confesses his inability to 
keep the reins of the Congress in his hands. When your pilot 

* J. B. Kripalani, had said at the A. I. C. C. meeting: “While no one dis- 
putes the necessity of a close and harmonious co-operation between the 
Government and the Congress Executives, the difficulty is how to achieve it. 
The need for this co-operation is recognized in theory but I find it missing 
in practice. It may be due to the fact that all of us are not united on 
basic policies. Or it may be that this co-operation is lacking because I who 
happen to be the President of the organization do not enjoy the confidence 
of my colleagues in the Central Cabinet. If that is so, then I should be the 
last person to stand in the way of what is necessary in the interest of the 
nation.” 



40 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


reports to you that he is unable to steer your ship, will you still 
say to him, ‘Never mind what happens, but you remain at your 
post’? You should therefore forget about the four months and 
not worry about constitutional proprieties. What would you do if 
an accident happened to me? Law does not recognize accidents. 
Think of this also as a natural calamity and be content to accept 
his resignation and proceed forthwith to elect a president of 
your choice. You should also know that according to practice 
the Working Committee retires with the President. 

The second point I wish to talk to you about is the Hindu- 
Muslim relations to which I have already made a reference. I 
am ashamed of what is happening today; such things should never 
happen in India. We have to recognize that India does not 
belong to Hindus alone, nor does Pakistan to Muslims. I have 
always held that if Pakistan belongs to Muslims alone, then it is 
a sin which will destroy Islam. Islam has never taught this. It 
will never work if Hindus as Hindus claim to be a separate 
nation in India and Muslims in Pakistan. The Sikhs too have 
now and again talked of a Sikhistan. If we indulge in these 
claims, both India and Pakistan will be destroyed, the Congress 
will be destroyed and we shall all be destroyed. 

I maintain that India belongs both to Hindus and Muslims. 
You may blame the Muslim League for what has happened and 
say that the two-nation theory is at the root of all this evil and 
that it was the Muslim League that sowed the seed of this 
poison; nevertheless I say that we would be betraying the Hindu 
religion if we did evil because others had done it. Ever since 
my childhood I have known that Hinduism teaches us to return 
good for evil. The wicked sink under the weight of their own evil. 
Must we also sink with them? My own experience of sixty years 
has confirmed what Hinduism has taught me and my study of 
other religions has revealed the same thing. Islam too says the 
same thing. It is the basic creed of the Congress that India is 
the home of Muslims no less than of Hindus. I also know that 
the Congress has had no hand in what has happened. I do not 
need to quote the authority of the Congress Constitution to sup- 
port my claim. 

It is held by some that if we perpetrate worse atrocities on 
Muslims here than what have been perpetrated on Hindus and 
Sikhs in Pakistan, it will teach the Muslims in Pakistan a salutary 
lesson. They will indeed be taught a lesson, but what will hap- 
pen to you in the mean while? You say that you will not allow 
Muslims to stay in India, but I hold it to be an impossibility to 



SPEECH AT A. I. C. C. MEETING 


41 


drive away three-and-a-half crores of them to Pakistan. What 
crime have they committed? The Muslim League indeed is cul- 
pable, but not every Muslim. If you think that they are all traitors 
and fifth-columnists, then shoot them down by all means, but to 
assume that they are all criminals because they are Muslims is 
wrong. If you bully them, beat them, threaten them, what can they 
do but run away to Pakistan? After all, life is dear to them. But it 
is unworthy of you to treat them so. Thereby you will degrade 
the Congress, degrade your religion and degrade the nation. 

If you realize this, then it is your duty to recall all those 
Muslims who have been obliged to flee to Pakistan. Of course 
those of them who believe in Pakistan and wish to seek their 
happiness there are welcome to migrate. For them there is no bar. 
They will not need military protection to escort them. They go of 
their own will and at their own expense. But those who are leaving 
today have to be provided with special transport and special 
protection. Such unnatural exodus under artificial conditions 
must cause us shame. You should declare that those Muslims 
who have been obliged to leave their homes and wish to return 
are welcome in your midst. You should assure them that they 
and their religion will be safe in India. This is your duty, this 
is your religion. You must be humane and civilized, irrespective 
of what Pakistan does. If you do what is right Pakistan will 
sooner or later be obliged to follow suit. 

As things are we cannot hold our heads high in the world 
today and have to confess that we have been obliged to copy 
Pakistan in its misdeeds and have thereby justified its ways. 
How can we go on like this? What is happening is a provocation 
to war on both sides and must inevitably lead to it. You will then 
have to part company with Jawaharlal. And yet it is because of 
him that we are held in high esteem in the world today. He is 
respected outside India as one of the world’s greatest statesmen. 
Many Europeans have told me that the world has not known 
such a high-minded statesman. I have known Americans who 
hold Jawaharlal in higher esteem than they hold President 
Truman. Even those who have fabulous wealth, vast armies and 
the atom bomb respect the moral worth of Jawaharlal’s leader- 
ship. We in India ought to have due appreciation for it. 

I repeat to you that it is your prime duty to treat Muslims as 
your brothers, whatever may happen in Pakistan. We will not 
return blow for blow but will meet it with silence and restraint. 
Restraint will add to your strength. But if you copy what hap- 
pens in Pakistan, then on what moral basis will you take your 



42 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Stand? What becomes of your non-violence? If you approve of 
what has happened, then you must change the very creed and 
character of the All-India Congress Committee. This is the 
basic issue before you. Until you have faced it, you cannot solve 
any of the problems that are before you. When your house is 
on fire you must first put out the flames before you can do any- 
thing else. That is why I have taken so much of your time. Let 
all Muslims who have left their homes and fled to Pakistan come 
back here. India is big enough to keep them as well as the Hindu 
and Sikh refugees who have fled from Pakistan. What I wish 
to emphasize to you is that if you maintain the civilized way, 
whatever Pakistan may do now, sooner or later, she will be 
obliged by the pressure of world opinion to conform. Then war 
will not be necessary and you will not have to empty your 
exchequer. 

One more point. I understand that a hundred-and-fifty- 
thousand Muslims are about to be sent to Pakistan. You will 
say, they belong to the criminal tribes who are better sent to 
Pakistan. Why should they have to go? If there are criminal 
tribes in India, whose fault is it? We are to blame for not 
having reformed them. They were here during the British regime. 
Was there any talk of deporting them then? It is wrong of us 
to send them away because they are “criminal”. Our duty should 
be to reform them. How shameful it is for us that we should 
force them to trudge three hundred miles on foot! I am against 
all such forced exodus. 

Another problem that has arisen in the wake of the British 
withdrawal from India is the claim on the part of rulers of Indian 
States to do as they please. These rulers were kept in power 
by the British as henchmen of British imperialism. Some of these 
rulers have indeed tried to reform their ways and have adjusted 
their claims to the rights of their people. But the same cannot 
be said of all of them, though the number of the recalcitrant 
ones is very small. Their assertion of independence is as untenable 
as their claim to rule as they please is wrong. Because we are 
independent it does not mean that each one of us is free to do 
as be pleases. Such freedom means the end of all freedom. 
I therefore plead with these rulers to seek their good in the 
common good. If they do not carry the people with themselves, 
they will invite their own doom. I do not wish this to happen. 
If the Princes wish to survive, they can do so only as the servants 
of their people. If they wish to rule, they can do so only as 
trustees of their people’s welfare. 



SPEECH AT A. I. C. C. MEETING 


43 


I claim to be an orthodox sanatanist. I know that my religion 
does not advocate untouchability. The mission of the Hindu 
Mahasabha is to reform Hindu society, to raise the moral level 
of the people. How then can the Sabha advocate the compulsory 
evacuation of all Muslims from India, as I am told it does? 
I know what some people are saying. ‘The Congress has surrendered 
its soul to the Muslims. Gandhi? Let him rave as he will. He is 
a wash out. Jawaharlal is no better. As regards Sardar Patel 
there is something in him. A portion of him is sound Hindu, but 
he too is after all a Congressman.’ Such talk will not help us. 
Where is an alternative leadership? Who is there in the Hindu 
Mahasabha who can replace Congress leadership? Violent row- 
dyism will not save either Hinduism or Sikhism. Such is not 
the teaching of Guru Granthsaheb. Christianity does not teach these 
ways. Nor has Islam been saved by the sword. I hear many 
things about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. I have heard it 
said that the Sangh is at the root of all this mischief. Let us not 
forget that public opinion is a far more potent force than a thousand 
swords. Hinduism cannot be saved by orgies of murder. You 
are now a free people. You have to preserve this freedom. You 
can do so if you are humane and brave and ever-vigilant, or else 
a day will come when you will rue the folly which made this 
lovely prize slip from your hands. I hope such a day will never 
come. 

You will forgive me for taking so much of your time. 
There is yet another point. “Control” is a vicious thing. It is 
responsible for much of the corruption that is rampant today. 
I am receiving innumerable letters and telegrams that confirm 
what I say. If you do not abolish control immediately, you 
will one day regret it. It makes people lazy and helpless. Do 
away with it. But before you proceed to other business, accept 
your President’s resignation. ' 

A. I. C. C. File No. G. 43/11, 1947-48. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum 
and Library 

^ The A. I. C. C. accepted the resignation of J. B. Kripalani by their 
resolution of November 17. Rajendra Prasad was elected President of the 
Congress. According to Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, after the 
meeting of the A. I. C. C. Gandhiji said: “I am convinced that no patchwork 
treatment can save the Congress. It will only prolong the agony. The 
best thing for the Congress would be to dissolve itself before the rot sets 
in further. Its voluntary liquidation will brace up and purify the political 
climate of the country. But I can see that I can carry nobody with me 
in this.” 



37. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


November 15, 1947 


BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I think you would naturally expect me to convey to you 
what I said at the A. I. C. G. meeting in the afternoon. But I do 
not feel like repeating what I said. As a matter of fact I had 
said the same thing which I have been telling you all these days. 
If I am sincerely regarded as the Father of the Nation, it is true 
only in the sense that, after my return from South Africa in 
1915, I had a big hand in giving the Congress the shape it acquired 
later. This means that I exercised a great influence throughout 
the country. But today I cannot claim that. I am not worried 
about it; at least I should not be. Everyone should do his 
duty and leave the result to God. Nothing happens without 
the will of God. Our duty is only to make the effort. Hence, 

I had gone to attend the A. I. C. C. meeting with the idea that 
if I was allowed to address the members before the delibera- 
tions started, I would put before them what in my view is 
truth. 

I want to tell you something about controls. Since I spoke 
at length at the A. I. C. C. meeting on the other current topics 
of great importance, I could only briefly refer to the subject of 
controls. 

I feel that continuing the controls is criminal. The policy of 
controls might have been good during the War. It may be good 
even today for a military nation. But it is harmful for India. I 
am sure that there is no scarcity of food or cloth in the country. 
The rains have not betrayed us this year. There is enough 
cotton in our country and enough people to work on the spinning- 
wheels and the looms. Apart from these, there are mills in the 
country. That is why I feel that both the controls are bad. We 
have also control on petrol, sugar, etc. I do not see any logical 
reason why we should have controls on such things. Controls 
make people lazy and dependent. Laziness and dependence are 
bad for the country at any time. I receive daily complaints 
about the controls. I hope that the representatives of the country 
would come to a wise decision and would advise the Government 


44 



LETTER TO PYARELAL 


45 


to remove the controls that encourage corruption, hypocrisy and 
black market. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 80-1 

38. LETTER TO PTARELAL^ 

[After November 15, 1947Y 

I did receive copies of your correspondence with Nazimuddin. 

. . I liked the whole of it. Here are replies to your questions:”* 

As to his statement on Pakistan, in my opinion, Khwaja 
Saheb has overshot the mark. I can understand their objecting 
to propaganda in favour of reunion backed by action. But how can 
they ban the holding or the propagation even of views contrary 
to the Pakistan Government’s present policy, or the cultivation of 
public opinion in favour of those views? You should see Khwaja 
Saheb personally or write to him to get the issue clarified. No 
one may try to coerce the Pakistan Government but surely every- 
one has a right to bring home to the Muslims the error of what 
has taken place and to convert them to one’s view if possible. 
Send me the draft of your letter to Khwaja Saheb before posting. 

You have referred to my attitude in regard to the British 
Empire. Let me tell you, I derived no little strength from my 
implicit loyalty to the British Empire in thought, word and deed. 
I am doing exactly the same in regard to Pakistan. 

What is happening in Tripura is very wrong. It is naked 
coercion. But if the people of Tripura have no grit, if they are 
stupid or if the State administration is rotten to the core, what 
can one do? I do not think you can do anything in this matter. 

. . . Of course, you can help with advice. If by coming into 
personal contact with the State officials you could get them to 
behave as men, it would be a great thing. 

* & ^ This was in reply to Pyarelal’s letter which mentioned the probability 
of his going to Delhi “during the next three or four weeks”. The addressee 
did not receive the letter at Noakhali and came to know about it only 
when he rejoined Gandhiji at Delhi on December 15. 

^ Omissions in the letter are as in the source. 

The addressee had drawn Gandhiji’s attention to a statement by 
Khwaja Nazimuddin, Chief Minister of East Bengal, that even cultivation 
of public opinion in favour of a reunion with India would be treated as 
treason against the State. For extracts from the addressee’s letter, vide 
Appendix II. 



46 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


I cannot regard the Noakhali situation as ‘normal’ in any 
sense so long as the corruption is not rooted out. Death at a 
stroke is better than death by inches. 

On the surface there is peace here. But so long as hearts 
are not united it is like a castle built upon sand. You are per- 
fectly right that so long as things on the top do not come right 
here there will be no real improvement there. 

The story about that little boy is very touching.’ The 
decision about the use of the fine money was very appropriate. 
The action taken by the local Muslims does them credit. . . . 

I have already written to you that you should come whenever 
the situation and your work there permit. 

Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, pp. 530-1 


39. LETTER TO CHAMPA R. MEHTA 


New Delhi, 

November 16, 1947 

CHI. CHAMPA^, 

I have your letter. Whose handwriting is it? I was not 
convinced. I smell in the letter the old Champa. If you cannot 
stay in the Ashram, how can you stay in any other institution 
connected with it? I have written to Aryanayakum^, too, and 
asked him. I am in no hurry. I don’t wish to displease you. 
Even though you may be my daughter, I will not agree to act 
contrary to dharma through you. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: M.M.U./XX 


’ Some Muslim urchins in a village in Noakhali had performed a 
mock conversion of a Hindu boy forcing him to drink what was supposed 
to be cow’s blood. The elder Muslims awarded to the offenders punishment 
by caning and a fine of five rupees each to be paid to the aggrieved party. 
The latter would not accept the money, saying that only genuine repent- 
ance could wipe off the insult to their religion. Later, both parties agreed 
to utilize the sum to provide powder milk to Muslim orphans of the locality. 

^ Wife of Ratilal Mehta 

^ E. W. Aryanayakum, Secretary, Hindustani Talimi Sangh 



40. LETTER TO ABBAS 


New Delhi, 

November 16, 1947 


CHI. ABBAS, 

I have your letter. Has the rot entered Bhavnagar also? 
Whether or no, what can it do to you? Let things be as they 
will. You should go ahead with your own work. Your behaviour 
at any rate should be faultless. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


41. LETTER TO CHIMANLAL N. SHAH 

November 16, 1947 

CHI. CHIMANLAL, 

Regarding your letter to Sushilabehn the correct view is 
that for the present you should be content with as much as 
you can achieve with the help of the amount which you have 
already received. If the C. P. Government offers some money 
and if you feel that you needs must accept it, then Sushilabehn, 
Jaju* and the others, not I, can advise you in this regard. I 
think you or I could hardly have anything to say about it. As 
for me, I would know nothing from this long distance. I should 
of course like it if you have a Persian wheel instead of an 
engine, but the final decision must rest with Sushilabehn. Since 
it is a hospital establishment you are bound to need a lot of 
water. 

I can offer no solution whatsoever in the case of Chandra- 
prakash. I cannot even visualize a complete picture of him. 
Hence, if I should guide you in the matter it would be no 
more than a pretence. I cannot be said to have given a clear 
verdict. I must therefore content myself with letting things take 
their own course. 

* Shrikrishnadas Jaju, Treasurer of Hindustani Talimi Sangh and Secretary 
of A. I. S. A. 


47 



48 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


It will be a welcome attitude if we give in to his objection, 
in case Aryanayakum raises one in the matter of the potter. 
I may not understand all his decisions. But that is a different 
matter. If the potter could live on his own, if he is a good 
person and an expert pot-maker, we ought to accommodate 
him, irrespective of Chandraprakash’s presence or otherwise. 
If his is a case of leprosy we should put up with it. Moreover, 
I understand it is not yet in a contagious form. This simplifies 
the problem. 

How is the problem of Champa now? 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


42. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 16, 1947 

I have read your advice. Is it not a fact that though Nara- 
sinh Mehta used to sing his bhajans in the midst of Harijans 
these bhajans are today chanted in your temples? Hence all 
advice is like soap-suds. Soap does produce lather; but this 
lather alone does not remove the dirt. Clothes become clean 
only when they are rubbed with hands. Similarly, if you wish 
to understand the nature of my work, you should delve deeper 
into it; otherwise all this is like pebbles inside a dried gourd. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 290 


43. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 16, 1947 

Recently the Working Committee had been meeting here 
and I did not have time even to breathe. But it is your duty 
to write to me even if I don’t write. Your first duty, however, 
is to take complete rest and recover your health. If you have 
now lost faith in nature cure, consult a good doctor in Bombay. 
If he suggests an operation, have it done. Do write if you 
need any help from me. 

Yes, what you say is true. The political atmosphere has 
become vitiated. But you are forbidden to worry over it until 
you are fully recovered. And if the Congress has become 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 49 

rotten, I have no doubt that it is bound to die. Rotten things 
cannot last long in the world and if a rotten thing is kept in 
some place it emits foul odours. I hope you know this. So 
repeat Gurudev’s^ words “It will not do to worry” like a 
mantra and get well. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — pp. 290-1 


44. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 16, 1947 

One should admit one’s failings. One who admits his fail- 
ings progresses in life. How long will we remain rebels? I feel 
you should submit your resignation. I prefer a bad man who 
admits his failings to a good one who does not even try to see 
his mistakes. We have no right to see the shortcomings of 
others. None of us is a perfect stkitaprajna yet. 

M. K. Gandhi 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, p. 291 


45. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 16, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

It is indicated in the bhajan sung this evening that man’s 
highest endeavour lies in trying to find God. He cannot be 
found in the temples or in the places of worship created by 
man. Nor can He be found by observing fasts, etc. God can 
be found only through love and that love should be not worldly 
but divine. Mirabai who saw God in everything lived in such 
love. For her God was all in all. 

The ruler of the Rampur State is a Muslim. But that does 
not mean that it is a Muslim State. The late Ali Brothers^ had 

* Rabindranath Tagore 

2 Mahomed Ali and Shaukat Ali 


90-4 



50 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


taken me there many years ago* and I stayed with them. I had 
the pleasure of meeting the then Nawab also, for he was a friend 
of the well-known nationalist Muslims of the day, the late Hakim 
Ajmal Khan^ and the late Dr. Ansari^. In those days the Hindus 
and the Muslims used to live there more peacefully and in greater 
harmony than today. But the Hindu friends who came last 
Sunday from that place to meet me had an altogether different 
tale to tell. They told me that though that State had acceded 
to the Indian Union it was still under the insidious influence 
of the Muslim League. Had that been the only obstacle, it 
could have been easily overcome. But there is also the Hindu 
Mahasabha assisted by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak 
Sangh who wish that all the Muslims should be driven away 
from the Indian Union. 

The problem is how the Congressmen who are loyal to the 
Congress objectives can strengthen their position. Can they 
offer satyagraha with any hope of achieving success? They 
were happy to know that the A. I. C. C. is firm about the Con- 
gress objectives and is opposed to turning India into a country 
in which only Hindus could live as masters. The principles and 
objectives of the Congress are so broad-based that they include 
all the communities of the country. There is no room in it for 
narrow communalism. It is one of the oldest political organiza- 
tions. Its only objective is service of the people. The Rampur 
Congressmen are gaining strength for their struggle by what 
is happening at the A. I. C. C. meeting. Even so, those people 
were keen to know my views in the matter. I told them that 
I was not well acquainted with the situation prevailing there; 
so I could not lay down any law and I did not have the time 
either to study the situation. But this much I can say with 

full confidence that satyagraha is the greatest force in the 

world, before which the opposing forces which they had men- 
tioned cannot survive for long. 

These days it is a fashion to describe any armed opposi- 
tion or opposition of any kind as satyagraha. That only harms 

* On March 6, 1919 

^ (1863-1927); Chief physician to Nawab of Rampur, 1892-1902; Presi- 
dent of the Indian National Congress, 1921; First Chancellor of Jamia Mil- 
lia Islamia, 1920-27 

^ Dr. M. A. Ansari (1880-1936); eminent physician and surgeon; Mem- 
ber, Congress Working Committee; General Secretary of Indian National 

Congress in 1920, 1922, 1926, 1929, 1931 and 1932; its President in 1927; 
Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, 1928-36 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


51 


society. Hence, if you understand the true meaning of satya- 
graha and realize that the living God, in the form of truth and 
love, is with the satyagrahi, then you would not hesitate to 
believe that no one can ever succeed against satyagraha. I am 

sorry to say what I was constrained to say about the Hindu 

Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. I would 
be happy to know if I am wrong. I have met the Chief of 
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. I had attended one of the 
meetings of that organization.^ Ever since, I have been repri- 
manded for having attended its meeting and have received many 
letters of complaints about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. 

Though all of us are engaged in extinguishing the fire of 
communalism in the country, we should not forget our fellow- 

beings living outside India. You are well aware that the Indian 

Delegation^ to the United Nations is fighting for the rights of 
the Indians in South Africa with great courage and unity. All 
of you know Smt. Vijayalakshmi PandiU. She is the leader of 
the Indian Delegation not because she is the sister of Jawahar- 
lal Nehru, but because she is able and carries on her work 
efficiently. She is accompanied by a good team and they all 
speak there with one voice. ^ I was pleased most by the speeches 
of Zafrullah Khan® and IsphahanP which appeared in the 


* M. S. Golwalkar, known as Guruji 

2 Vide Vol. LXXXIX, pp. 193-5. 

2 Which consisted of Vijayalakshmi Pandit, M. C. Setalvad, K. M. 
Panikkar and Maharaj Singh 

(b. 1900); daughter of Motilal Nehru; leader of Indian Delegation to 
U.N. O., 1946, 1947 and 1963; Ambassador of India in U. S. S. R., 1947-49, 
and the U. S. A., 1949-52; India’s High Commissioner in England, 1954-61; 
Governor of Maharashtra, 1962-64 

® During the debate at the United Nations Political Committee on 
November 15, M. C. Setalvad, protesting against the treatment of Indians 
in South Africa said: “Human rights and fundamental freedoms, which this 
Committee and Assembly are called upon to vindicate, are not only a mat- 
ter of concern to the 250,000 Indians and other Asians settled in South 
Africa, they affect millions of human beings all over the world who look to 
this organization to protect them against the vicious doctrine of racial supe- 
riority and racial arrogance.” 

® Mohammad Zafrullah Khan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader 
of the Pakistan Delegation to U. N. O., supported the Indian stand and said: 
“I do not know the Bible very well but I have been told that the Boers of 
South Africa are deeply attached to the Bible. Is the treatment of Indians 
in the Union in accordance with the teachings of a Christian civilization?” 

2 M. A. H. Isphahani, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U. S. A., stated 
during the debate: “The grievance of Indians is with regard to measures 



52 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


newspapers today. At the United Nations, they said in plain 
words that Indians in South Africa were not given the same 
treatment as the whites. They are being insulted there and 
boycotted as if they were outcastes. It is true that the Indians 
in South Africa are not poor and hungry. But man cannot live 
by bread alone. Money has no value before human rights. And 
the South African Government does not give these rights to 
Indians there. The Hindus and the Muslims in India do not 
have divided views on the problems concerning the Indians 
living abroad. This only proves that the two-nation theory is 
incorrect. The lesson which I have learnt from it and which 
is also the lesson people should learn after my mentioning it 
today is that love is the highest thing. If the Hindus and the 
Muslims can speak unitedly outside India, they can certainly do 
SO here as well, provided there is love in their hearts. Man is 
prone to commit mistakes. But he can rectify his mistakes if 
he wants to. This too is natural for man. It is always possible 
to forgive and forget. If we can do this today and can speak 
with one voice here as we do outside, then we would get over 
our present troubles. As far as South Africa is concerned, I 
hope their government and the whites there would profit by 
what is being openly said by distinguished Hindus and Muslims 
with one voice. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 81-4 

46. HOW TO GROW MORE FOOD'^ 

Are your little seedlings coming up well — are those of you, with no 
land, growing mustard and cress salads, and improving your health by eating 
them? These thoughts pass through my mind. And this big question is also 
always there: How many of you are really doing the thing? May God inspire 
you with energy and faith. 

Here is the promised list^ of vegetables. As it takes up a lot of space, 
the hot weather list will be carried over into the next issue of the Harijan. 


which entrench upon their own legitimate rights as nationals of the Union 
of South Africa and which reduce them to a position of inferiority and sub- 
servience to European settlers.” 

’ This was the fourth and last of a series of articles on the subject by 
Mirabehn. 

^ This is not reproduced here. 



CONTROLS 


53 


Mirabehn’s is an apposite question. It will be interesting 
to know how many are profiting by her hints. Will such please 
send their names to the editor of the Harijan, Ahmedabad? 

New Delhi, November 17, 1947 
Harijan, 30-11-1947 


47. CONTROLS 

It is now becoming clear to me that the controls on food- 
grain, cloth, etc., are unwarranted. I keep getting letters and 
telegrams in support of my view. 

As against this there are many who consider themselves 
experts on the subject. They write scholarly articles. Many of 
them are servants of the old foreign Government. I do not wish to 
disregard any of them merely for the sake of doing so. But I 
cannot help it if failure to be convinced by their ideas is consider- 
ed as disregard for them. Would a person who is getting scorched 
in the sun believe a pundit who says that sunshine is not hot and 
his feeling scorched is merely an illusion? Such is my condition. 

Experts and officials genuinely feel that we do not have 
sufficient foodgrain in our country. I not only hold the con- 
trary view, but I say that the deficit of foodgrain if any can be 
met with a little effort by a large number of people. What can 
the Government do if people become lethargic or indulge in 
malpractices and as a result suffer death? The Government 
should find out ways and means to remove lethargy and take 
steps to eradicate malpractices. It should not procure foodgrain 
by fair means or foul and encourage malpractice and lethargy. 

But I don’t wish to write a treatise here. The people of 
Gujarat know how to carry on trade and there are skilled far- 
mers there. The soil is fertile and water is available. What 
do they think? Is it true that lethargy and malpractice are 
behind this scarcity of food? If not, why should there be need 
for control in Bombay? Even if lethargy and malpractice are 
there, is it not possible to overcome them? Why cannot the 
farmers and businessmen of Gujarat or rather the whole of 
Bombay province prove that there is no scarcity of food and 
cloth and, even if there is, it can be removed immediately? 
Gan they not do this much? 

New Delhi, November 17, 1947 

[From Gujarati] 

Harijanbandhu, 23-11-1947 



48. LETTER TO LORD LSMAT 


November 17, 1947 

DEAR LORD ISMAY, 

Will 3 p. m. on Wednesday next suit you?’ If you would 
prefer any other time, please tell me. 

While I shall be glad to welcome you where I am staying 
please be sure that I could as easily come to you. You shall 
decide.^ 

Tours sincerely, 

M. K. Gandhi 

GandhijVs Correspondence with the Government, 1944-47, p. 282 


49. ERAGMENT OE LETTER TO 
ABDUL GHAFFAR KHAN^ 


November 17, 1947 

This"* you can do here with me or otherwise. What that 
otherwise can be, I do not know. ... I do not believe as some 
do that non-violence can only be offered in a civilized or 
partially civilized society. Non-violence admits of no such limit. ^ 

Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, p. 283 


’ The addressee, Chief of the Viceroy’s Personal Staff, had sought an 
appointment with Gandhiji. 

2 In his letter dated November 18, the addressee confirmed the appoint- 
ment with Gandhiji. 

^ (b. 1891); popularly known as “Frontier Gandhi”; founder of the 
Red Shirt or Khudai Khidmatgar movement; Member, Congress Working 
Committee 

Several thousand Khudai Khidmatgar workers had been arrested and 
convicted without trial. Khan Obeidullah Khan, son of Dr. Khan Saheb, 
was arrested on November 14. Their weekly paper Pakhtoon was banned. 
These reports were causing concern about the Khan Brothers’ safety. 

'’Gandhiji had suggested to the addressee “openly to leave the Frontier 
Province and develop the non-violent technique from India”. 

^ The addressee, “in reply, sent word to Gandhiji not to worry but just 
send him and his associates his blessings and prayers”. 

54 



50. LETTER TO PRABHUDAS GANDHI 


New Delhi, 

November 17, 1947 

CHI. PRABHUDAS, 

I admit it is my failure that I could not write to you in 
my own hand. But these days there are a great many instances 

of such failure on my part. Strength is limited and work is 

heavy. Today is silence-day and I am therefore able to write 
this letter, though, to be sure, the shoulder is feeling the strain 
now. I am sad that you have fallen ill again. But one must 
pay the penalty demanded of the body. You did well in go- 
ing to Calcutta again. I hope they will carry out a successful 
operation now. Janakibehn' had exactly the same trouble. 

As a last resort you have Ramanama. But its success de- 
pends on one condition being fulfilled, like the success of any 
other experiment. Ramanama has its full effect only when it 
proceeds from the heart. The habit of mechanical repetition 

must of course be formed in any case. From the lips it may 

by and by sink into the heart. That is why we pray aloud. I 
expect another letter from you. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 158 


51. LETTER TO INDU PAREKH 

November 17, 1947 

CHI. INDU, 

Your letter. I learnt just now that you had a younger 
brother^. I don’t remember to have received any letter in that 
connection. Why need Father grieve over the event? Illness comes 
and goes. But while illness is bad, death is a friend. Surely, 


' Widow of Jamnalal Bajaj 
^ Madhu Parekh 


55 



56 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Jayanti' would marry some day, is it not? Would the desire 
for marriage spare even a communist? See me when you come. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 6259 


52. LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI 

November 17, 1947 

CHI. JIVANJI^, 

I write more in English these days because it is more 
convenient to do so. The reason is not that my articles might 
reach those also who know English. I feel unhappy that I am 
not able to write in Gujarati. The truth is that these days I 
get no time to write for Harijan. I do as He bids. I try to 
write one article [every week]. 

The pamphlet regarding constructive work is lying in front 
of me. I shall finish it at the earliest opportunity. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 9986. Also C. W. 6960. Gourtesy: 
Jivanji D. Desai 


53. A LETTER 


November 17, 1947 

You will find in Harijanbandhu my recent article^ on controls. 
I have no doubt in my mind that controls will mean controls 
over our minds too, and we shall not be able to taste the sweet 
fruit of freedom. Many people argue the case before me; but 
when I start asking questions they cannot answer them. I 
agree that it would be good if we could provide jobs for the 
staff that will be retrenched when controls are removed. I feel 
like laughing when these people, motivated by their self-interest 
for the time being, argue that a revolt would erupt in India 


' Jayanti Parekh, addressee’s brother 
^ Manager, Navajivan Press 
3 Vide p. 53. 



A NOTE 


57 


if there were no controls. But at the same time I also feel de- 
pressed. I would remove controls even at the cost of a revolt. 
That has always been my way. I have travelled thus far 
through fiery ordeals. And I have limitless faith in God. Don’t 
we have a proverb, “He who has provided the teeth will also 
provide the food?” There is an element of truth in it. But there 
must also be full effort. 

I am pulling on somehow. These days we are busy with 
the A. I. C. C. meeting. There is great pressure of work. I hardly 
have time to breathe. Letters have heaped up. I am all right. 
Everything here is quite uncertain at the moment. But God 
will certainly show a way out. 

I hope all of you are quite well. Blessings to all. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, pp. 295-6 


54. A NOTE^ 


November 17, 1947 

I find that talk of khadi and village industries does not 
interest people any more. Here I am sitting in the capital. 
Refugees are lying all round shelterless and shivering. Thou- 
sands are pouring in every day. How long will you feed them 
without giving them any work? I am sure everyone will remem- 
ber this old man one day when it is realized that India has no 
alternative except to develop village industries. Any government 
formed by any party — Congress, Socialist or Communist — will be 
forced to accept this truth. We do not realize this today, but 
we shall realize it after we stumble in our attempts to compete 
with America or Russia. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 296 


’ This was addressed to a member of the All-India Village Industries’ 
Association. 



55. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


November 17, 1947 

I feel very sad that we still write to each other in Eng- 
lish. When both of us know Hindi quite well, why do we still 
write [in English] ? I will not feel that we are independent and 
free so long as we do not pay attention to these small little 
things. Why need I tell you all this? Or is it that I have be- 
come old and senile? So much for today. . . .’ Things are get- 
ting worse here. Let us see how God guides us. 

Tours, 

M. K. Gandhi 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — p. 296 


56. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 

November 17, 1947 

Yesterday I spoke about Rampur and our countrymen in 
South Africa. Today I feel I must deal more fully with the 
latter subject. I have lived in South Africa for twenty years 
from 1893 to 1914 with a break probably of one year. During 
that long and formative period of my life I came naturally in 
closest contact with all kinds of Indians as also with the white 
settlers of that sub-continent almost as big as ours. Between then 
and now if South Africa has risen, India has made giant strides. 
What seemed to be impossible only the other day has happen- 
ed. We need not go into the causes. The fact is that India has 
come into the British Commonwealth, i. e., she has exactly the 
same status as the Union of South Africa. Should members of 
one Dominion be helots in another Dominion? An Asiatic nation 
enters the Commonwealth for the first time in its history with 
the willing consent of all the members of the Commonwealth. 

' Omission as in the source 

^ As Gandhiji was observing silence, his written message in Hindustani 
was read out. 

58 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


59 


Mark now the following message that the Administrator Dr. 
S. P. Barnard of Orangia sent to the Natal Indian Congress of 
Durban five days after the entry of India in the Commonwealth: 

As you are celebrating Independence of the new Dominions which 
you can consider a great day in the annals of Indian history, I hope 
all Indians in South Africa will now emigrate voluntarily to the new 
Dominions to act as missionaries of the gospel they have been taught 
in South Africa, namely, to live in peace and order and not to fight 
in communal riots in which hundreds are being killed in India. 

It is worthy of note that Dr. Barnard evidently doubts 
whether the entry was a great event. And then he treats the 
Natal Indian Congress with the gratuitous advice that the 
Indians of South Africa should emigrate to India and become 
“missionaries of the gospel they have been taught in South 
Africa, namely, to live in peace and order and not to fight in 
communal riots”. I very much fear that this message is typical 
of the average white man’s mind in the South African Domi- 
nion. Hence the series of disabilities on our countrymen for the 
crime of being Asiatics and having a coloured pigment. I appeal 
to the best western mind of South Africa to revise this anti- 
Asiatic and anti-colour prejudice. They have an overwhelming 
African population in their midst. They are worse treated in 
some respects than the Asiatics. I urge the European settlers to 
read the signs of the times. Either this prejudice is wrong 
from every point of view or the British people and their fellow- 
members of the great Commonwealth have made an unpardonable 
mistake in admitting Asiatic countries as members. Burma is 
about to get her independence,* Ceylon will presently become a 
member of the Commonwealth.^ What does it mean? Member- 
ship of the Commonwealth is, I am taught, as good as inde- 
pendence, if not superior to it. Responsible men and women of 
these independent States need to ponder well as to what they 
will do with their independence. Is all this movement towards 
multiplying independent States, though proper and healthy in 
itself, to result in another war more deadly, if possible, than 
the last two, or is it to end, as it should, in the promotion of 
universal brotherhood? 

* The Burma Independence Bill which was passed by the House of 
Commons on November 14, came into force on January 4, 1948. 

^ Under the Ceylon Independence Bill, passed by the House of Com- 
mons on November 26, Ceylon was to become a self-governing “near-Domi- 
nion” within the Commonwealth in February 1948. 



60 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


“A man becomes what he thinks,” says an Upanishad mantra^. 
Experience of wise men testifies to the truth of the aphorism. 
The world will thus become what its wise men think. An idle 
thought is no thought. It would be a serious mistake to say 
that it (the world) will become as the unthinking multitude act. 
They will not think. Like a mob they will follow.^ Indepen- 
dence should mean democracy. Democracy demands that every 
citizen has the opportunity of receiving wisdom as distinguished 
from a knowledge of facts so called. South Africa has many wise 
men and women as it has also many able soldiers who are 
equally able farmers. It will be a tragedy for the world if they 
do not rise superior to their debilitating surroundings and give 
a proper lead to their country on this vexed and vexing problem 
of white supremacy. Is it not by this time a played-out game? 

I must keep you for a moment over the much-debated 
question of control. Must the voice of the people be drowned 
by the noise of the pundits who claim to know all about the 
virtue of controls? Would that our ministers who are drawn 
from the people and are of the people listened to the voice of 
the people rather than of the controllers of the red-tape which, 
they know, did them infinite harm when they were in the 
wilderness! The pundits then ruled with a vengeance. Must 
they do so even now? Will not the people have any opportu- 
nity of committing mistakes and learning by them? Do the 
ministers not know that they have the power to resume con- 
trol wherever necessary, if decontrol is found to have been 
harmful to the people, in any instance out of the samples, by 
no means exhaustive, that I am giving below? The list before 
me confounds my simple mind. There may be virtue in some of 
them. All I contend is that the science, if it is one of controls, 
requires a dispassionate examination and then education of the 
people in the secret of controls in general or specified controls. 
Without examining the merits of the list I have received 
I pick out a few out of the samples given to me: Control 

* tisn i i qiq^R'l qiqi i s^q : 

q^RRT RRllt qiq : qi^iR i rrI <35^15 : 1 qjiRRq g^q 1 e qqjq^TR't rrIr 

I qtqigilqfti Rg; q;if i qiqiR f g^fRdg^^ 1 

— Brihadaranjakopanishad, 4. 4.5 

According as one acts, according as one behaves, so does he become. 
The doer of good becomes good, the doer of evil becomes evil. One becomes 
virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action. Others, however, say that 
a person consists of desires. As is his desire, so is his will; as is his will, so 
is the deed he does, whatever deed he does, that he attains. 

^ This sentence has been translated from Prarthana Pravachan — II. 



A LETTER 


61 


on exchange, investment, capital issues, opening branches of 
banks and their investments, insurance investments, all import 
and export of every kind of commodity, cereals, sugar, gur, cane, 
and syrup, vanaspati, textile, including woollens, power, alcohols, 
petrol and kerosene, paper, cement, steel, mica, manganese, 
coal, transport, installation of plant, machinery, factories, distri- 
bution of cars in certain provinces and tea-plantation. 

Harijan, 30-11-1947 


57. A LETTER 


November 18, 1947 

CHI. . . .,’ 

Chi. Manudi took, or it would be equally true to say, I 
gave her, about ten minutes before writing this letter to you. 
She read out your letter to me and asked a question. In 
answer to that I gave her a long lecture. Has it not become 
my profession to lecture people? I would not be surprised if 
it only justified the ancient Sanskrit saying “wise in advising 
others”. Because today unforeseen events are overtaking us 
from all sides, I am fumbling in the dark in search of a way 
out. Your letter is certainly inspiring; but I have to do or die 
here. If heart unity is not restored in Delhi, I can see flames 
raging all over India. And I have no strength, nor the courage 
to reach that far. I would much rather spend myself in Delhi. 

I must admit that only the intellectuals and political 
leaders are responsible for the present distressing atmosphere. 
The poor peasants in the villages do not even know that India has 
become free. Hence I have not the least hesitation in saying 
that we are grossly abusing the intelligence and energy which 
God has bestowed upon us. Now you will understand what it 
is I am trying to put across or what pain fills my heart. My 
prayer today is “one step enough for me”^. I am keeping well 
in spite of all that is happening and I hope you are also well. 
The fact that one can keep fit physically and mentally, whatever 
the circumstances be, is a sign of one’s nearness to God. My 
Rama is not a man with two hands and two feet. But if I am 
perfectly fit it is due to Rama’s grace. Chi. Manudi is well 
trained. But after all she is only a girl, in the playful age of 

* The name is omitted in the source. 

^ From “Lead Kindly Light” by Cardinal Newman 



62 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


16 or 17 — she is almost a child. When I discuss with her or 
dictate to her such spiritual subjects, it occurs to me how dense 
I was at the age of 18. As compared to that, this girl has deve- 
loped quite well. At the same time I am also conscious that I 
may be putting too heavy a burden on her tender mind with 
my discussions or dictations of such highly pedantic matters. But 
she is always very happy and keeps cheerful. Only she does 
not take care of herself, because of which I have to scold her 
often. These days she has been making notes and summaries of 
my interviews with visitors, and she has been doing it quite 
well. Of course she shows me all she writes down. While she 
is growing in other directions, her physical growth has been 
stunted. There is such a rush of visitors and so much writing 
work to be done that I am unable to talk to her however much 
I may wish to. 

Well, today I have dictated a very very long letter. And 
now my eyes are also closing. Chi. Manudi will certainly write 
about other matters. When I get up after a little rest Rajendra 
Babu^ and others will arrive. I hope you are all well. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, pp. 304-5 


58. TALK WITH RAJENDRA PRASAD 

November 18, 1947 

I realize that just when you started devoting yourself to agri- 
culture you have to give it up.^ But there is no alternative. Either 
this institution [Congress] has to be disbanded or if it has to 
be kept alive we will need a man of dynamic personality. You 
should tour the whole country and if possible go to the villages 
also. The people are agitated but nobody is there to listen to 
their grievances. We have given innumerable promises in our 

* Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963); joined Gandhiji in 1917 during the satya- 
graha in Champaran; President of Indian National Congress, 1934 and 
1947; Member for Food and Agriculture in the Interim Government; President, 
Constituent Assembly; Union Minister for Food and Agriculture; President 
of India, 1950-62 

^ Rajendra Prasad had resigned as Minister for Food and Agriculture on 
his election as President of the Congress, the office of which he took over on 
December 22. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


63 


speeches that we shall ensure the welfare of the people. It is 
enough that we humbly admit that we are unable to fulfil our 
promises, and give them a sympathetic hearing. . . .' 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 305-6 


59. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 18, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

You must have read the resolutions^ passed by the All-India 
Congress Committee. Some of those resolutions are useful in 
our life — in a good part of our life. It may as well be said 
that they are useful in the life of every man. They are not the 
resolutions merely to be implemented by the Government. For 
instance, the resolution on controls is the one which has to be 
implemented by Jawaharlal, Rajendra Prasad — now Rajendra 
Prasad is out — and also by others. They have to implement the 
policy of control on food, cloth and every other thing. We too 
have to do the same thing. If we resort to cheating and do not 
abide by the law, the result would be disastrous. When we can 
do with one yard of cloth, why should we buy ten yards and 
try to convince ourselves that no harm will be done if it is 
bought and tucked away in the house? If we develop such an 
attitude, become self-centred and not think of India we will 
turn into rogues. 

The resolutions of the All-India Congress Committee are 
so important that I wanted to explain them to you one by one. 
I am still here, and I shall say something about the resolutions 
if I get a chance. But let me at least tell you the substance 
today. There is a resolution about bringing back the people 
who have left their homes in panic and this resolution applies 
to everybody. All of us, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, belong 
to India. What if India has been divided? All of us have to 
shoulder the responsibility because we are all brothers. If only 
one individual goes on stuffing his belly and does not care for 
the poor — if he eats for pleasure — he is stealing and commits 
a crime against India. What if India does not possess all the 
foodgrain she requires? The poor also should get foodgrain. 

* Omission as in the source 

2 Vide Appendix I. 



64 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


If the rich get just a few chhataks^ and are able to manage 
with the same I would consider that the rich and the poor have 
become equal. Apart from anyone else, let me talk about the 
rich person in whose house I am living. If you ask me whether 
Shri Ghanshyamdas manages with his legitimate quota, I would 
say he does not. I have got to tell the truth after all. Because 
he is a man of means, he is able to procure everything. I do 

not know if all those who come here are able to have milk. I 

get milk. I do not know how and from where that milk comes. 

His idea is to somehow get milk for me, whether he has to 

keep one goat or two; and to get the best quality of wheat, 
because I am, after all, a Mahatma. He provides for me greens 
or fruits, whatever I want. I do not ask him from where he 
gets those things. Something must be offered to the members of 
the Working Committee when they come to visit me. So, they 
are given fruit juice. He owns property worth crores of rupees. 
That is the case with the wealthy people. Millionaires can get 
all those things. But something can happen only when they de- 
prive themselves a little. How else can the poor get things for 
themselves? Let the rich and the businessmen not indulge in 
profiteering. Let them become honest. They may make profit 
but just enough to satisfy their hunger. How wonderful if all of 
them would follow the same system about profits! Why should 
there be control on food? There is no need at all for it. It 
would be good indeed if everyone became like this. 

The most important thing is that we cannot rest in peace 
till all the refugees go back to their homes. It is madness to 
kill the Muslims or drive away those who have run away from 
Pakistan in panic leaving their property there. Now the All- 
India Congress Committee has issued orders that people have 
to be kept wherever they are, and in comfort, and those who 
wish to return to their homes have to be sent back. Thousands 
of millionaires managed to come away even leaving their 
beautiful houses, but the poor are still left behind. I do not 
intend speaking about every point today. But the resolution 
shows where our duty lies. And that is the most important 
thing. If we take it for granted that the Muslims are a worth- 
less lot, it is a grave sin. It is the supreme duty of all of us 
not to drive away anyone. People have seen the Working Com- 
mittee resolution three or four days ago and they have also 
seen the indications in the Press. In spite of that the Muslims 


' One-sixteenth of a seer 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


65 


are running away. People say that the A. I. C. C. accepted this 
resolution because of my insistence. They say that the Muslims 
should go away, otherwise they would be killed. People ask me if 
I would be a witness to the slaughter of Muslims. I have already 
said what I would do — I would ‘do or die’. When I am ready to 
die, the Muslims too should be ready to die if the need arises. 
We have become so heartless that we want them to walk 300 
miles in this cold winter. It is said that there are not too 
many deaths in the camps — some ten or twenty die every day. 
Now, out of five, ten or fifty thousand if so many people die, has 
anyone tried to estimate how many people would die in India 
at this rate? Should it not be our concern as to how they 
die? Some of them do not get food, some have cholera, some 
get dysentery, or something else happens to them. But does any- 
one bother to know why these people die ? We are worried about 
the availability of food and all the other things we need. We 
are always on the look-out for settling the Hindus and the Sikhs 
in the houses of Muslim evacuees. Of course, the situation is 
not the same everywhere. But it is certainly so in many places. 
This has pained me very much and I have conveyed my feel- 
ings to you many times. Now even the A. I. C. C. has said that 
what has happened is highly deplorable. This thing has to be 
conveyed to the millions and it cannot be done in one day. 
There are great men in the Government — Jawahar, the Sardar, 
Rajendra Babu (but Rajendra Babu is not there now) — and how 
could [other members] displease them? That is why they agreed 
to it. I have heard that now there are even some Congressmen who 
think that the Muslims should not live here. They think that 
only then can Hinduism prosper. But they do not know that 
Hinduism is degenerating day by day. It would be dangerous 
if they did not change their attitude. All the members of the 
A. I. C. C. are the representatives of India as a whole. If they are 
all one at heart, as they should be, then the entire face of India 
would change. It is their duty not to allow anything else to 
happen. Their primary task is to find out how they can bring 
back all those who have fled from here. We would be restless till we 
brought back all the Muslims who have gone away from India. 
We have to create the necessary climate and that is not difficult. 
It is a great thing that there are still 350 million Muslims in 
India. Nobody knows how many have gone away and how many 
are going to come. Supposing all those who have gone away 
came back, it would mean no expenditure for us, for they 
would be living in their own houses, since they have their 
90-5 



66 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


houses here. Our job is only to return their houses to them. But 
are all those houses vacant? Refugees have occupied those 
houses by force. But they would have to be accommodated in 
spite of that. If we act without proper thought and if our hearts 
are not clean, outsiders would wonder if the representatives of 
India were hypocrites. I think they are not. Those days 
are over when we used to be angry with the Muslims and 
wanted them to go away. Today we consider them as our 
brethren. 

I would like to believe that the people of Delhi and Gur- 
gaon have become good. When I had been to Panipat recently, 
I saw people living in amity. But now I hear that the refugees 
have occupied the houses of the Muslims and the Muslims 
want to go away to Pakistan. The Muslims might say that 
they did not want to go to Pakistan willingly as neither any 
delicacies nor good clothes would be available there. And how 
could things be otherwise? The people there are in the 
same condition as we are here. After all, it is not as if there 
were more provisions for them there while they had nothing 
here. Those who have gone away write back that it would have 
been much better if they had remained in India. Having left 
their hearth and home, they are now living in camps and are in 
great distress. It is bound to be so. Then, why do the Muslims 
of Panipat want to go to Pakistan? If that is so, Panipat is a test 
for me and I too may have to go there. Panipat is about 50 miles 
from here. It cannot be called a distant place. It is just like 
Delhi. Now, even if a single Muslim is forced to go to Pakistan, 
it would hurt me and it would hurt you. Of course, when they 
stay here, they must get food and clothes from the money they 
receive. They are industrious, they earn and subsist on it. How 
will they live if they earn money but cannot have food? If 
the craftsmen, who have been like brothers, have to leave just 
because refugees from the Punjab have come, nothing could be worse 
than that. I would tell all the refugees at Panipat that they should 
give up the houses of the Muslims and the Muslims too should 
say that they would stay there. They should say that they do not 
need police for protection and they would live in amity. The 
police should only see to the distribution of food and clothes. They 
need do nothing more. Then I would say that the A. I. C. C. has 
done a good thing and we are all with it. We may not be four- 
anna members of the Congress, but we respect the organization. 
Let us today also support and follow what this organization, which 
has served the country all these days, is with full deliberation 



LETTER TO MUNNALAL G. SHAH 


67 


saying in these adverse circumstances. That is all I would like to 
say for the day. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 88-93 

60. LETTER TO MUNNALAL G. SHAH 

New Delhi, 

November 19, 1947 

chi. MUNNALAL, 

I had your letter. You may wind up the construction work 
with the consent of all, but certainly not before receiving such 
consent. The difficulties which you notice are psychological and 
bespeak a subtle form of egoism. Financial arrangements have 
already been made for the construction work. But in any case 
how does it concern you? You have nothing to do with that. 
You will have done your part when you complete the task as- 
signed to you. 

Decide about where to stay only after Kanchan' returns. 
The decision will have to be approved by her. You should do 
nothing against her wishes. 

I am surprised that you can think of leaving Sevagram. 
For some, Sevagram is their very body. That means that 
leaving Sevagram is committing suicide. And suicide is forbidden 
in all circumstances. If you yourself are good others at Seva- 
gram will also be good. Sevagram is not something apart from 
you. People are afraid of you and, therefore, avoid asking 
you to do anything. If you become steady in your mind, it will 
be easier for others to ask for your help. I ask you to do 
things because both Kanchan and you put trust in me. That 
trust must not be forced. If that trust is lost, you would have 
no justification for writing to me and I for offering you any 
advice. May all three of you keep well and live a good life. 

I suppose you understand that such a wish can be expressed 
for a child. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: C. W. 7224. Courtesy: Munnalal G. 
Shah 


' Addressee’s wife 



61. LETTER TO RANCH AN M. SHAH 

New Delhi, 

November 19, 1947 

CHI. KANCHAN, 

I have your letter. I see that you have still not learnt to 
write letters. My cart is jogging along, but it seems to have got 
stuck here just now. I don’t see any chance of my going over 
to that side in the immediate future. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: C. W. 6976. Courtesy: Munnalal G. 
Shah 


62. ERAGMENT OE A LETTER 

November 19, 1947 

Don’t you know that these days I have stopped sending mes- 
sages? I have only one preoccupation: ‘Do or Die’. I shall think 
of other activities only when I have accomplished either of the 
two. The situation here is getting worse every day. It is not a 
question of Hindu-Muslim riots only. The rancour within has 
now come out in the open, and it would not be wrong to say 
that the present delicate situation is a reflection of it. 

I have digressed to other matters. But you may take it that 
my blessings go with any good work. So think of God and get 
on with the work. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 311 


68 



63. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


November 19, 1947 

We should be agreed on some matters at least, or should 
we not? Even as regards language we have raised such a storm 
that one might think a rebellion had broken out. The matter is 
simple. Our language should be that which the millions of vil- 
lagers in India can understand and read with ease. If I had my 
way, I would give the same place to language as has been given 
to khadi in the Congress Constitution. I would allow only those 
who knew Hindustani to become members of the Congress. We 
should now have no resolutions in English. How many persons 
understand English in a mass meeting? But mine is like a pipe 
of carrot' and I continue to blow it whether or not it produces 
any sound. 

The problem of States will be solved easily in most cases. 
Among the Kathiawar States, the attitude of Bhavnagar appears 
very sound, although there have been no negotiations directly 
with the Raja yet. I believe that his response will be good. 
Many of his men come here for discussion. 

I am keeping well by God’s grace. I have no doubt that we 
shall suffer if we neglect khadi. The Congress will not survive 
in a democracy if it abandons any one of the constructive 
activities. No party which does so will survive. The reason is 
that when you are there at the helm of affairs, you have been 
entrusted with power by the people in the hope that you will 
strive to relieve their misery. If we do not make such efforts and 
neglect those which have already been initiated, what fate will be 
in store for us? In the end, may God grant good sense to all. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, pp. 311-2 


* A Gujarati saying 


69 



64. LETTER TO M. A. HUJVAR 

{^November 19, 1947y 

CHI. HUNAR, 

I have your letter. Now there is no need to go to Ahmed- 
abad. I understand what you say about language. The question 
of staying at Patna also does not arise now. I would therefore 
like you to go to SundarlaP rather than elsewhere. I have dis- 
cussed the matter with him. He will arrange for your maintenance. 
Consult him and do what he suggests. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


65. LETTER TO RATANDEVI 

[^November 19, 1947Y 

CHI. RATAN, 

I got your beautiful letter. Have I not written at length on 
the subject of blessings ?“* 

I do have a keen desire to visit Vanasthali. But does not its 
fulfilment depend only on God? 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* In the source the letter is placed among those of this date. 

^ (1886-1981); nationalist leader and a prolific writer; member of the 
Congress Working Committee, 1930-31; started a number of magazines 
including Karmayogi; wrote Bharatmen Angrezi Raj and a comparative study 
of the Gita and the Koran; President of the All India Peace Council; Founder- 
President of the India-China Friendship Association 

3 In the source the letter is placed among those of this date. 

Vide p. 1. 


70 



66. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


November 19, 1947 

Truth and ahimsa had been the weapons for achieving swaraj. 
Today we have forgotten both. Actually it was my fault that 
I believed that people had truth and ahimsa in them. But I was 
mistaken. Anyway I consider it my good luck that God has at 
last opened my eyes. And I regard it as God’s grace that even 
if I can do nothing else at least I shall now be able to do or die. 
I do not wish now to live for 125 years. I would either like to 
die bravely taking the name of God or, if Hindus and Muslims 
became sincere friends, would tour the whole of India and then 
go to Pakistan. 

How are you? How is Behn? Write about everything. 
The boarding-house must be functioning well. Tell all your 
students that I would very much like to go and stay amongst 
students because I am myself a student. Most of our problems 
are solved automatically if one remains a student or a humble 
person throughout one’s life. But today I am confined here. 
Let all the students be united and forget that they are Hindus, 
Muslims, Banias or Brahmins. I think that if they realize that 
they are all Indians, my presence there will not make much 
difference. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 312-3 

67. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 19, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Last evening I referred to the main Resolution on Hindu- 
Muslim relations passed by the A. I. C. C. But unfortunately 
today itself I have to cite an instance to show how that Reso- 
lution is being rendered futile in Delhi. I had never imagined 
that on the very evening when I was expressing my doubt 
about the behaviour of the public, that doubt would be proved 
right in the heart of old Delhi. I was told last night that 
a large crowd of Hindus and Sikhs had gathered in front of a 

71 



72 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Muslim’s shop in Chandni Chowk. Though the shop belonged 
to a Muslim, the owner had abandoned it and gone away. 
The shop had been given to a refugee on condition that he would 
give it up when the owner returned. Fortunately, the owner of 
the shop has returned. He did not want to give up his business 
for good. The officer in charge of the allotment came to the 
refugee and asked him to vacate the shop. The refugee hesitated 
at first, but then agreed to vacate it when the owner came 
to take possession in the evening. When the officer went 
again in the evening he found that instead of vacating the 
shop the occupant had informed his friends who had collected 
there to overawe whoever [forced them] to vacate it. The few 
constables at Chandni Chowk could not control the crowd, 
and they sent for more help. The police or, may be, military 
arrived and fired in the air. The crowd dispersed in panic, but 
a pedestrian was stabbed in the bargain. Fortunately the wound 
did not prove to be fatal. But this demonstration of the 
trouble-makers had a strange result. That shop was not vacated. 
I do not know if the order of that officer was defied or the 
shop has ultimately been vacated. Nevertheless, I do hope that 
the Government will not fail to punish the culprit if it has to 
retain its true authority under our precious freedom. Otherwise, 
the Government will have no authority at all. I am told that the 
crowd of Hindus and Sikhs was not less than two thousand. 

I have understated the news that was given to me. If there 
is room for correction and if it is brought to my notice I will 
gladly let you know about it. 

This is not the only thing. In other parts of Delhi, too, 
attempts are being made to drive the Muslims out of their 
houses, so that the Hindu and the Sikh refugees could be 
accommodated there. The Sikhs go about brandishing their 
swords and threaten the Muslims with dire consequences if they 
refuse to give up their houses. I am also told that the Sikhs 
drink liquor, the consequences of which can be well imagined. 
They dance about with their naked swords and scare away the 
pedestrians. I am also informed that according to custom 
Muslims do not sell kababs^ and other meat preparations in 
Chandni Chowk and nearby areas. But the Sikhs and perhaps 
other refugees, too, freely sell these forbidden things there. This 
hurts the feelings of the Hindus in that locality. The nuisance 
has grown to such an extent that people cannot easily pass 


' Meat cutlets 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


73 


through the crowded Chandni Chowk. They are afraid of being 
insulted. I appeal to my refugee friends that they should not 
indulge in such things for their own sake and for the sake of 
the country. 

As for the kirpans, the Sikhs have been forbidden by law to 
carry kirpans larger than the prescribed size. While this law is 
in force, many Sikh friends come to me with a request that I 
should try to have this restriction withdrawn. They told me 
about the judgement passed by the Privy Council several 
years ago which permitted the Sikhs to carry kirpans of any 
size. I have not read that judgement. I think the judges have 
interpreted kirpan to mean sword of any size. The then Punjab 
Government, in order to carry out the Privy Council’s decision, 
declared that everyone was free to keep a sword. That is why 
in the Punjab men carry swords of any size they choose. 

I have no sympathy with the Punjab Government or the 
Sikhs in this matter. Some Sikh friends have brought to my 
notice certain portions from the Granfhsakeb which support my 
view that the kirpan is not a weapon to be used to attack the inno- 
cent. Only the Sikhs abiding by the tenets of the Granfhsakeb 
can use the kirpan for the protection of innocent women, children 
and old and helpless people. That is the reason why one Sikh 
is regarded equal to one-and-a-quarter lakh opponents. That is 
why any Sikh who takes intoxicants, who gambles, or is prey to 
other vices, has no right to keep a kirpan which is a symbol of 
purity and restraint and which is to be used only on particular 
occasions in a prescribed manner. 

In my view, it is not only futile but also harmful to seek the 
help of the now defunct judgement of the Privy Council to justify 
the indiscriminate use of the kirpan. We have just freed ourselves 
from foreign rule. It is highly improper to do away with all 
necessary restrictions in our state of freedom, because, without 
those restrictions, society cannot make progress. Hence, I would 
tell my Sikh friends that they should not bring the great Sikh 
religion into disrepute by using the kirpan for doubtful purposes. 
Let them not destroy a religion which has been shaped by a 
number of martyrs in whose martyrdom the world takes great 
pride. 

I wish to draw your attention to another thing. I have 
been informed about a refugee camp where the army has been 
accused of rude behaviour. The entire life of the camp should 
be a model from the point of view of inner and outer cleanliness. 
To preserve such cleanliness [the police and the army] should vie 



74 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


with each other. Hence I hope that the information I have re- 
ceived does not apply to these protectors of law and order, and that 
it is only an exception. The army and the police should be 
the first to experience the glow and excitement of freedom. Let 
not the people get a chance to say that good behaviour can 
be expected of them only under strict discipline imposed on them 
from above. They have to establish through correct beha- 
viour that they too can become good and ideal citizens of India. 
If these protectors of law disregard law itself, it would be 
difficult to carry on administration at all. And it would be all 
the more difficult to implement the Resolutions of the All-India 
Congress Committee. 

After presenting the gloomy side of the picture, I would 
now like to present the bright side also. I have just heard an 
eye-witness account of great valour which I am going to nar- 
rate to you. 

Mir Maqbool Sherwani was a young brave leader of the 
National Conference at Baramula. He had just entered his thir- 
tieth year. On learning that he was an important leader of the 
National Conference the invaders tied him to two poles near 
the Nishat Talkies. They first beat him up and then told him 
that he should give up the National Conference and its leader 
Sheikh Abdullah, the lion of Kashmir. They told Sherwani 
that he should swear loyalty to the Provisional Government of 
Azad Kashmir which had its headquarters at Palundry. 

Sherwani refused to give up the National Conference under 
pressure. He made it clear to the assailants that the Sheikh 
was the head of the Kashmir Government, that the Indian army 
had already reached Kashmir and, before long, would repel the 
assailants. 

On hearing this, the assailants were enraged and were in 
panic. They riddled his body with fourteen bullets. They cut 
his nose and disfigured his face and pasted a notice on his 
body: “This man is a traitor. His name is Sherwani. All 
traitors would be treated in the same way.” 

But within 48 hours of this ruthless murder and blood- 
shed, Sherwani’ s prophecy came true. The invaders fled from 
Baramula in panic and the Indian army chased them away. 

Anybody, whether Hindu, Sikh, Muslim or anyone else, 
would be proud of such martyrdom. 

A friend of mine has related an instance of a proud mo- 
ment whose lustre would not fade even in the most painful si- 
tuation and an instance of friendship which proves its worth in 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


75 


the moment of greatest trial. It is the story of Narayan Singh, a 
Sikh ex-officer. He has lost enormous property in West Punjab. 
Now he is in Delhi. He has nothing left, which means that he 
would be compelled to beg or to let death claim him. He met 
an old friend who he did not want to suffer on his account 
because he was not bothered by his own misfortune. The Sikh 
officer was very happy to meet Ali Shah, his old friend and 
colleague. Ali Shah too has lost his entire property, but not 
because of communal frenzy but because of some other misfortune. 
He too is a courageous man like Narayan Singh and both of 
them are proud of their friendship. When they met after a 
separation of twenty-five years, they were so happy that they 
forgot their misfortune. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 93-8 


68. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 20, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I have received two notes from the same person. In one 
note he says that he has given up his job and wishes to work 
under me. In the second note he expresses his desire to sing 
a bhajan at the prayer. As for his first wish, I can’t help say- 
ing that it was a mistake to have given up his job. It is true that 
during the British days I had exhorted people to give up their 
jobs and non-co-operate with the Government. But that is not 
the case now. Anyone who wishes to serve his country can do 
so while carrying on with his job. If every wage-earner does 
his job honestly and without indulging in any kind of violence, 
he is no doubt serving the country. The writer of the note 
should realize that I have no work to offer him. If he wants 
to render service, he must do something for the goshala about 
which I am going to talk presently. 

As for singing bhajan at the prayer, it is not that everyone 
can be allowed to sing. Only people known to be servants of 
God can do so with prior permission. 

I was happy to find the camp' admirably clean. There are 
dharmashalas at various places for the pilgrims who come there 

* The Okhla camp which Gandhiji had visited in the afternoon along 
with Sucheta Kripalani and others 



76 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


during the fairs. These fairs are organized there periodically. At 
present these dharmashalas are being used for the refugees. There 
is some difficulty about water supply, which the officials are 
trying to remedy. I have no doubt that if water supply can be 
guaranteed, many more refugees can be accommodated there. 

Now that I am talking about the refugees, I shall speak 
about their shortcomings to which my attention has been 
drawn. I am told that the refugees are indulging in black 
market among themselves. The officers who are in charge of 
looking after the refugees are themselves, I am told, at fault. 
I learn that it is impossible to find a place in the camps 
without bribing the officers who are in charge of the camps. 
As regards other things also, their behaviour is not above 
reproach. True, all officers cannot be guilty, but the entire ship 
can sink because of one sinner. 

Then I am told that the refugees also indulge in petty 
thieving. I expect from them honest and straightforward behaviour. 
I am told that some of the quilts provided to the refugees to 
protect them against cold are torn up, the cotton thrown away 
and the chintz cover is used for making shirts, etc. I have been 
told of many such things, but I do not wish to waste your time 
by narrating all the misdeeds of the refugees. I wish promptly to 
come to the topic of the evening. 

In a locality called Kishanganj in Delhi a goshala is having 
its annual function. Acharya Kripalani is going to preside over 
that function tomorrow and I am being pressed to attend the 
function at least for ten minutes. I felt that I should not 
attend any function just for show. I cannot do or see anything 
in ten minutes. Moreover, I am so much involved in these 
communal problems that I have no time to attend to other 
things. Hence, I expressed my helplessness and, realizing my 
difficulty, the organizers excused me. They told me that they 
would be satisfied if I would say something about goseva — espe- 
cially about goshalas, during the prayer meeting. I readily agreed 
to do so. I have stated in plain words that the task of preserva- 
tion and increasing the cattle wealth of India and taking proper 
care of the cow and calf is much more difficult than attaining 
political freedom.' I claim that I am working with faith and 
devotion in this field. I also claim that I have true knowledge 
of how the cow can be saved. However, I do admit that so 
far I have not exercised any influence on the public which 


' Vide Vol. LXXXIX, pp. 73-4. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


77 


may lead them to give to the problem the attention it 
deserves. Those who manage the goshalas know how to spend 
money or collect funds for the purpose. But they have no know- 
ledge at all about rearing the cattle scientifically. They do not 
know how to rear the cow so that it may yield more milk. 
They do not know how to rear the oxen or improve their breed. 

That is why, throughout India, goshalas, instead of being 
the institutions where one could learn the art of rearing the 
cattle, where there would be ideal dairies providing the best 
quality of milk and the best breed of cows and oxen, are places 
where the cattle are herded together in a pitiable condition. 
The result is that India, instead of being a prominent country 
where the best breed of cattle and the best quality of milk 
should be available at the cheapest rate, is the lowest in the 
world in this regard. The people managing the goshalas do not 
even know that the dung and urine of the cattle can be used 
most profitably. Nor do they know how best to utilize the dead 
cattle. The result is that because of their ignorance crores of 
rupees are being lost. An expert has stated that our cattle wealth 
is only a burden on the country and deserves to be destroyed. 
I do not agree with this view. But, if the general ignorance in 
this matter persists for some time more, I will not be surprised if 
our cattle become a burden on the country. That is why I 
hope that the management of this goshala would do its best to 
make it an ideal institution from every point of view. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 98-101 


69. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 21, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

While I am making my speech before you, the goshala is 
probably celebrating its annual function about which I told you 
yesterday. I would like to mention one thing. In the course 
of my speech yesterday I did not mention about the dairies 
conducted for the soldiers all over India. Dr. Rajendra Prasad 
told me that these dairies are still in operation. Many years 
ago I had visited^ the Central Dairy at Bangalore. It used to 

1 On June 12, 1927; vide Vol. XXXIII, p. 476. 



78 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


function under the supervision of Col. Smith. I had seen some 
beautiful cattle there. One of them was a prize cow. It was 
believed that she was the best cow in the whole of Asia. I do 
not quite remember if she used to give a daily yield of 75 lbs. 
of milk or whether she really yielded so much milk at one 
time. That cow used to roam about without any restriction 
anywhere she chose. Fodder used to be kept for her at various 
places, which she could eat any time she chose. This is the 
bright side of the picture. I have not seen the other side of it. 
But I am authentically told that a large number of male calves 
are killed, because all of them cannot be turned into bullocks 
that can carry heavy weight. These dairies are spread over 
hundreds of acres of land if not more. They are meant specially 
for European soldiers, and crores of rupees have been spent on 
them. Now that we no longer have the British soldiers in India, 
I do not deem them necessary. I am sure that if the Indian 
soldiers know that such expensive dairies are being run for their 
sake, they will feel ashamed. I am also certain that the Indian 
soldiers will not demand what ordinary citizens cannot claim as 
a matter of right. 

The most authentic and perhaps complete information about 
the cow and the buffalo can be found in a voluminous treatise' 
written by Shri Satis Chandra Das Gupta of the Khadi Pratish- 
than. It is not filled with extracts from other books but is 
based on his personal experience and written during one of his 
imprisonments. The book has been translated into Bengali and 
Hindustani. Those who read it carefully would find it extremely 
useful in improving the cattle breed and increasing the yield of 
milk. There is a comparative study of the cow and the buffalo 
also in the book.^ 

These are all relevant questions. I am no great scholar of 
history. I do not even claim to be a learned man. But I have 
read in an authoritative book on Hinduism that the word 
“Hindu” does not occur in the Vedas. When Alexander the Great 
invaded India, the people living in the region east of the river 
Sindhu, which is called the Indus by the English-speaking 
Indians, were described as the Hindus. The letter ‘S’ of the 
Sindhu became ‘H’ in Greek. The religion of the people living 

* Cow in India, published in two volumes. For Gandhiji’s preface to it, 
vide Vol. LXXX, pp. 149-50. 

^ Gandhiji then referred to a question from the audience, “What is 
meant by ‘Hindu’? What is the origin of that word? Is there anything 
called Hinduism?” 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


79 


in this region came to be known as Hinduism which, as you 
are well aware, is the most tolerant of all religions. It gave shel- 
ter to the Christians who had escaped from the harassment of 
the people of other religions. Besides, it also gave shelter to 
the Jews known as Beni-Israel and also to the Parsis. I feel 
proud to belong to Hinduism which embraces all religions and 
is very tolerant. The Aryan scholars followed the Vedic religion 
and India was first known as Aryavarta. I do not wish that 
once again the country should be known as Aryavarta. The 
Hinduism of my conception is complete in itself. Of course, it 
includes the Vedas, but it also includes many other things. I do 
not think it is improper to say that I can proclaim the same 
faith in the greatness of Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and 
Judaism without in any way impairing the greatness of Hinduism. 
Such Hinduism would live so long as the sun shines in the sky. 
Tulsidas has expressed this idea in his couplet; 

Compassion is the root of religion, pride the root of sin. 

Do not give up compassion, says Tulsi, so long as there is 

life in you. 

The sister' who accompanied me during my visit to the 
Okhla camp was upset because she wondered if the misconduct 
in some of the refugee camps I had mentioned was related to 
the Okhla camp. I paid a very hurried visit to the Okhla 
camp, and so it is impossible to mention any such thing about 
it. In my speech I have mentioned the misconduct in the refu- 
gee camps in general. 

I cannot help mentioning the fact that according to the 
information received by me 137 mosques have been almost de- 
stroyed in Delhi during the riots. Some of them have been 
converted into temples. There is one such mosque near Con- 
naught Place which can never remain unnoticed by anyone. 
Today there is a tri-colour fiag fiying over it. It has been 
changed into a temple by installing an idol in it. Desecrating 
the mosques in this manner is a blot on Hinduism and Sikhism. 
It is gross adharma in my view. The blot which I have mentioned 
cannot be wiped out by saying that even the Muslims in 
Pakistan have desecrated the Hindu temples or changed them 
into mosques. In my view, any such act can only destroy 
religion, whether it is Hinduism, Sikhism or Islam. ^ 

' Sucheta Kripalani, vide p. 75. 

^ Gandhiji then read out the A. I. C. C. resolution on this subject, vide 
Appendix I. 



80 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

Even at the risk of having to stay longer than usual at the 
prayer meeting I would like to say one thing in the end as 
a matter of duty. I am told that the Roman Catholics are be- 
ing harassed near Gurgaon. This has happened in a village 
called Kanhai which is 25 miles away from Delhi. An Indian 
Roman Catholic priest and a Christian missionary came to meet 
me. They showed me a letter which gave the description of the 
harassment of the Roman Catholics at the hands of the Hindus. 
Surprisingly, the letter was written in Urdu. I think the Hin- 
dus, the Sikhs and others living in that area can speak only 
Hindustani and write only in the Urdu script. The persons who 
brought the information told me that the Roman Catholics were 
threatened, that they would have to suffer if they did not leave 
the village. I hope this threat is unfounded and that the Chris- 
tian men and women would be allowed to follow their religion 
and carry on their work without any hindrance. Now that we 
have freed ourselves from political bondage, they, too, are en- 
titled to the same freedom to follow their religion and occupa- 
tions as they had under the British. The freedom we have 
achieved does not imply the rule of Hindus in the Indian Union 
or that of Muslims in Pakistan. I have already told you in one 
of my speeches' that when the anger of the Hindus and the 
Sikhs against the Muslims abated it was likely to be directed 
against one another. But I did not expect my prophecy would 
come true so soon. The anger against the Muslims has not yet 
completely calmed down. As far as I know, these Christians 
are absolutely innocent. It has been pointed out to me that 
their only fault is that they are Christians. Their greater fault 
is that they eat beef and pork. When out of curiosity I asked 
the priest if there was any truth in it, he said that those Roman 
Catholics had on their own given up eating beef some time ago. 
If such childish prejudice persists, the future of India is bound 
to be dark. When the priest was at Rewari, he was deprived 
of his bicycle, and he narrowly escaped death. Would this mi- 
sery end only with the extinction of all non-Hindus and non- 
Sikhs? 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 101-5 


Vide Vol. LXXXIX, p. 380. 



70. RATS OF HOPE 


Although there is from all sides so much debris of hope, 
now and then one sees a few rays of hope penetrating through 
this debris. The reflection is due to a study of my correspon- 
dence file for the Harijan which has been carefully kept for 
reading during moments of leisure. 

One such letter is from Shri Shivabhai Patel of Bochasan 
Residential School. He has sent me a few unvarnished facts 
and figures of the work done during the annual celebrations. 
He is ably assisted by Gangabehn* of the late Satyagraha 
Ashram of Sabarmati, now known as the Harijan Ashram and 
the ever indefatigable Ravishankar Maharaja, with his two sons 
who have not deserted him. A speciality of the recent celebra- 
tion was that instead of the usual mechanical contrivance for 
carding, they resorted exclusively to the tumi process. This time 
the management was induced to begin a boarding-house for the 
children of those who, in that part of India, are considered 
to be a backward race. The beginning has been made with 
only ten inmates. After seven years of suspension, they have 
recommenced the day school for boys who have finished four 
years’ course in ordinary schools. They expect to have a further 
six years, bringing the boys up to the matriculation standard 
minus English and plus a good grounding in khadi work, car- 
pentry or agriculture. Unlike past years, during the year under 
observation, the parents have become interested in the upright 
conduct of their children. The result is that during the four 
months preceding the celebration of October last, the boys who 
were given to hard smoking and drinking strong tanning tea, 
have shed the habit which was ruining them. The earnestness 
of the boys has aflFected their parents who have also given up 
these evil habits that make chimneys of their mouths and ruin 
their digestive apparatus. When the boys were admitted, they 
could not sit still or hold their tongues for five minutes. They 
have now learnt to enjoy hand-spinning in perfect silence for 


* Gangabehn Vaidya 

^ Ravishankar Vyas, who devoted his life to the uplift of the Baraia 
tribe in Gujarat 

81 


90-6 



82 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

one hour. Gangabehn who is in complete charge of the dairy 
of the institution takes good care to provide pure cow’s milk. 

During the celebration days the students’ recitations con- 
sisted of useful dialogues which were largely attended. They had 
also an unpretentious exhibition of all the processes that cotton 
undergoes before it comes out as khadi. Twenty- three students 
took part in a competition — for neat calligraphy, a subject about 
which there is so much indifference as if neatness of handwriting 
was no part of good training. 

New Delhi, November 22, 1947 
Harijan, 30-11-1947 

71. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 22, 1947 

I am thinking of going to Panipat and staying there. I do 
not wish to take many workers with me. Manu will of course 
be there. If . . .* wants to go with me he may. But I think it would 
be better if he went to Rajkot or stayed with . . for the 

present. Because it is a matter of “do or die” with us. And 
there is no knowing when this yajna will end. Jawahar does 
not like the idea. I am trying to bring him round. If he is 
persuaded and consents willingly, I may leave for Panipat at 
the earliest. 

You must not be anxious in the least. Rama is the Pro- 
tector of us all. As long as I have this faith, everything is right 
with me. God knows what will happen to me the day I lose 
this faith. That is the reason why I remain so cheerful in spite of 
being surrounded by this raging fire. I am at peace. I get sound 
sleep. I keep well. 

My blessings to you all. I hope everyone is keeping well. 
If you find the time, make a copy of this letter and read it to 
the Ashram inmates. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — p. 333 


' & ^ The names are omitted in the source. 



72. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


November 22, 1947 

Now we are daily growing more and more barbarous. 
Yesterday I had some Christian visitors. I did not talk about 
them at length in the prayers, but they too are being harassed 
a lot. That is why I am praying within, ‘O Rama, now take 
me away soon.’ 

I have to admit that the intellectuals and the leaders are 
more responsible for these disturbances than the common people. 

Look at what happened in Sind. All the leaders managed 
to come away and the innocent people are being killed. Can we 
turn so sinful and deceitful? It makes me shudder. 

This is the situation today. Let us see what God ordains 
ultimately. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — p. 332 


73. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 22, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I have received information about some instances of simi- 
lar harassment' to the Christians at Sonepat also. I am told 
that the Christians were first requested to allow use of their 
buildings for the refugees. They readily agreed, for which 
they were also thanked. But that gratitude turned into a 
curse, for their other buildings were also forcibly occupied for 
accommodating the refugees. They were then told that they 
should leave Sonepat if they did not wish to subject themselves 
to misery. If my information is correct, it is clear that the disease 
is spreading and no one can say where it would lead India. 

While discussing the subject with friends I was told that so 
long as the atrocities in Pakistan do not abate, not much im- 
provement can be expected in the Indian Union. In support of 

’ Vide p. 80. 

83 



84 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


this argument I was shown Press reports about what is hap- 
pening in Lahore. I personally do not accept Press reports 
to be absolutely correct. I would also warn the newspaper 
readers not to be easily carried away by the newspaper reports. 
Even the best of newspapers are not above giving exaggerated 
reports and embellishing them. But supposing what you read in 
the newspapers is all correct, still we should never imitate bad 
examples. 

Imagine a square frame to which no slate is fixed. If you 
mishandle that frame its right angles would become acute and 
obtuse angles. But if the frame is once again held properly at 
one end, the remaining three angles would automatically become 
right angles. 

Similarly, if the people and the Government of the Indian 
Union behave well, I have no doubt at all that Pakistan would 
also give proper response and the whole of India would once 
again come to her senses. This harassment of the Christians who 
have, in my view, committed no crime, should be an indication 
that it is not proper to let this madness spread. And, if India 
has to keep its prestige before the world, this madness should 
be combated sternly and at once. 

There are doctors, lawyers, students, teachers, nurses, etc., 
among the refugees. If they segregate themselves from the poor refu- 
gees, they would not be able to learn anything from their own 
misfortune. I feel that all professional and non-professional, rich 
and poor refugees should live together and build ideal cities just 
as the rich people of Lahore made Lahore an ideal city which 
the Hindus and the Sikhs had perforce to give up. Such 
cities would relieve the burden of overcrowded cities like Delhi 
and this would lead to better health and progress of the people 
living there. If over two lakh refugees at the Kurukshetra camp 
become ideal in the matter of inner and outer cleanliness, and 
if the professional and the rich people live with the poor on 
terms of equality and live a life of contentment in these colo- 
nies of tents, and if they do their own work, beginning with 
sanitation, etc., and engage themselves in some useful work 
throughout the day, they would cease to be a burden on the 
Government treasury. And the people in the city, in their turn, would 
not stop at merely admiring the simplicity and co-operation of 
the refugees, but would feel ashamed of their own lives, and 
follow the good example of the refugees. Then the present 
bitterness and mutual jealousies would vanish in no time. And 
the refugees, no matter how large their number may be, would 



LINGUISTIC REDISTRIBUTION 


85 


no longer be a matter of worry for the Union and local Govern- 
ments. The world would admire the ideal life of these millions 
of refugees. 

In the end, I would talk about removing controls, espe- 
cially the controls on food and cloth. The Government hesitates 
to remove controls because it feels that there is a real scarcity 
of food and cloth in the country, and the prices of these com- 
modities will shoot up if the controls are removed and the 
poorer sections will have to suffer a great deal. The Govern- 
ment thinks that the poor can be saved from starvation by 
continuing the controls and that they can be provided sufficient 
clothes. The Government is suspicious about the traders, 
cultivators and the middlemen. It fears that these people are 
waiting like hawks for the removal of controls, so that they 
could fill their pockets with tainted money at the cost of the 
poor. The Government has to make a choice between the two 
evils. It thinks that continuing rather than removing the con- 
trols is the lesser evil. 

That is why I appeal to the traders, middlemen and culti- 
vators that they should dispel these doubts about them and 
assure the Government that the prices will not rise when the 
controls are removed. It may not be possible to root out black 
market and underhand dealings by removing the controls but 
the poor would have a much easier time than now. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 106-8 


74. LINGUISTIC REDISTRIBUTION 

Acharya Shriman Narayan Agrawal writes to me a letter 
published in the columns of the Harijan Sevak. Its purport is 
that new universities should not be established before the pro- 
posed linguistic redistribution of Provinces. The following is the 
rendering of his argument’ : 

I entirely endorse the suggestion underlying the foregoing 
letter, viz., that what is proper to be done should not be de- 
layed without just cause, and that what is improper should 
not be conceded under any circumstances whatsoever. There can 
be no compromise with evil and since linguistic redistribution is 


Which is not reproduced here 



86 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


desirable from almost every point of view, all delay in carrying 
out the project should be avoided. 

But the reluctance to enforce linguistic redistribution is 
perhaps justifiable in the present depressing atmosphere. The 
exclusive spirit is ever uppermost. Everyone thinks of himself 
and his family. No one thinks of the whole of India. The 
centripetal force is undoubtedly there, but it is not vocal, 
never boisterous; whereas the centrifugal is on the surface, and 
in its very nature makes the loudest noise, demanding the at- 
tention of all. It manifests itself most in matters communal. 
This has given rise to fear in other fields. The history of the 
quarrel between Orissa and Andhra, Orissa and Bihar and Orissa 
and Bengal is fresh in our minds. The whole of it has not died 
out even now. This is but an illustration of an almost accom- 
plished fact. The other provinces were never redistributed in 
law though they were in 1920 when the Congress had a brand 
new constitution* enabling it to put up a life-and-death struggle 
with perhaps the greatest empire that has ever been. How will 
Madras, though divided by the Congress divide itself into four 
provinces, and Bombay do likewise in law? Many other clai- 
mants have come to the fore. They are not recognized by the 
Congress, but they are not less vocal or less insistent. The 
Congress does not command the prestige and authority it found 
itself in possession of in 1920. Despair has given place to hope. 
Now, when we have freedom, we seem not to know what to 
do with it. It is almost mistaken for suicidal anarchy. Even 
zealous reformers would postpone controversial issues to a more 
hopeful time when, in the interest of the country, the virtue 
of ‘give and take’ would be freely recognized and all sectional 
interests would be subordinate to the one interest of the good 
of India, which will include the good of all. Therefore, those 
who, like me, want constructive suggestions to come into play 
at this very moment, have to work to bring about a healthy 
atmosphere, promoting concord in the place of discord, peace 
in the place of strife, progress in the place of retrogression and 
life in the place of death. That happy day will be most mani- 
fest when the communal strife has died out. Meanwhile, will 
the Southern linguistic groups settle their disputes and bound- 
aries, will Bombay produce an agreed scheme of redistribution 
according to language, and will the new candidates withdraw their 
claims at least for the time being? Then linguistic redistribution 


1 Vide Vol. XIX, p. 191. 



DEATH — COURAGEOUS OR COWARDLY 


87 


can come into being today without the slightest difficulty or 
fuss. 

Let there be no undue strain upon the Congress, whose 
foundations have been shaken to their roots. It is ill-equipped 
today either for arbitrating between rival claimants or imposing 
its will upon recalcitrants. 

New Delhi, November 23, 1947 
Harijan, 30-11-1947 


75. UNBELIEVABLE 
A correspondent writes: 

Those who advocate the policy of undivided Bengal shall be 
punishable with death is the Gazetted Order of the East Bengal 
Government. 

I should like to see the text of the Order before I can be- 
lieve it. I feel sure that even if there is any Order to some 
such effect, the exact wording would bear a different meaning. I 
can understand the criminality of such action. There are very 
few Hindus and certainly not many Muslims who believe in the 
advisability or justice of the step. But only a mad man would 
advocate any forcible measure to upset the settled fact. The 
partition can be undone only by the willing consent of both the 
parties. But even that consent will be impossible, if no one is 
allowed to convert public opinion to the side of unity. 

New Delhi, November 23, 1947 
Harijan, 30-11-1947 


76. DEATH— COURAGEOUS OR COWARDLY 

A Bengali friend writes a long letter in Bengali on the 
exodus from East Pakistan. Its purport is that though workers 
like him understand and appreciate my argument and distinction 
between death — courageous and cowardly — the common man 
detects in my statement a not-too-hidden advice in favour of 
migration. He says: “If death is to be the lot in any case, courage 
becomes of no count; for man lives but to escape death.” 

This argument seems to beg the question. Man does not 
live but to escape death. If he does so, he is advised not to 



88 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


do SO. He is advised to learn to love death as well as life, if 

not more so. A hard saying, harder to act up to, one may say. 

Every worthy act is difficult. Ascent is always difficult. Descent 
is easy and often slippery. Life becomes livable only to the 
extent that death is treated as a friend, never as an enemy. 
To conquer life’s temptations, summon death to your aid. In 
order to postpone death a coward surrenders honour, wife, 
daughter and all. A courageous man prefers death to the sur- 
render of self-respect. When the time comes, as it conceivably 
can, I would not leave my advice to be inferred, but it will 
be given in precise language. That today my advice might be 

followed only by one or none does not detract from its value. 

A beginning is always made by a few, even one. 

New Delhi, November 23, 1947 
Harijan, 30-11-1947 

77. NATIONAL GUARDS 

A correspondent from East Bengal asks: 

The Pakistan Government are sure to raise a volunteer army called 
National Guards or by some other name. What are the Hindus to 
do, if they are asked to join? What are they to do, if the army is 
confined only to the Muslims? 

This is a difficult question to answer in the present state of 
things. Almost every Muslim is a suspect in the Union and 
every Hindu or Sikh likewise in Pakistan, West or East. If 
there is a hearty invitation, I would advise joining the body, 
assuming of course that the terms are equal and there is no 
interference with one’s religion. If there is no such invitation, 
I should, for the time being, submit to the exclusion without 
harbouring any resentment. 

New Delhi, November 23, 1947 
Harijan, 30-11-1947 



78. IN PRAISE OF DECONTROL 

The following extracts’ are taken from a very long thesis 
sent by a correspondent in favour of decontrol at least so far as 
food is concerned. 

By reducing rations from lbs. to | lb. the Government has . . . 
created a bigger vicious circle. The . . . agriculturist. . . knows that the 
lesser the ration the greater is the demand of the black market. . . . 
He will hoard secretly. . . . The lower production figures will cause . . . 
further reduction in the ration. . . . 

If we think over what we import and what is being spoiled and 
thrown away at storage places, it will be realized that our wastage is 
greater than the imports! Hence we must not import. We must reduce 
wastage. 

Why have our leaders kept themselves entangled in the net created 
for us for specific reasons by their predecessors, the British? How is it 
that things do not become clear to them? Why are they guided by 
the figures put before them by the officers which in some cases are nei- 
ther complete nor accurate? . . . 

Food crop production is not less today than what it was six years 
back. . . . During the war period a large quantity was supplied to the 
military with certain unavoidable wastages. Foodgrain were also sup- 
plied to the Middle East. These conditions do not obtain today. The 
public was then given 1 ^ lbs. daily ration. Thus . . . more stock was 
then available . . . than today. Six years back . . . grain was stored ac- 
cording to old customs in underground stores. Every merchant . . . had 
big stocks of grain. . . . There were heaps of foodgrain .... Today, nei- 
ther the consumer nor the businessman nor the Government has any 
stock. . . . The Congress, which is in power, is not able, owing to de- 
fects in the present procedure, to give to the public what as a matter 
of fact is really available in the country and the public is displeased 
and interested parties are taking advantage of this situation to make 
the Congress unpopular. It is only the Congress which can maintain 
peace in the country and if it once loses its hold over the public, which 
may happen if the situation does not show signs of improvement, and 
is allowed to deteriorate from day to day as it is doing, it will be very 
difficult, if not impossible, for it to avoid the storm that may come. 

Harijan, 23-11-1947 

’ Only excerpts from which are reproduced here 


89 



79. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 23, 1947 

Since I had no letter from you recently, I was beginning to be 
afraid lest you had fallen sick. You must regularly take sun-bath 
and apply mud-packs. Take complete rest and repeat Ramanama 
with eyes closed till you fall asleep. Give up all anxiety regard- 
ing your sons or other things. Don’t start taking milk yet. Take 
whey, as much hot water as you can and some honey. Among 
fruits, avoid heavy ones like bananas. You can take mosambi, 
orange or lemon; also raw vegetables. Stop all walking and 
reading. Get someone to read to you. Strictly avoid newspapers, 
because they publish all sorts of true and false reports about the 
country and about me, which make you anxious. Listen to news- 
paper reports only if you are a sthitaprajm. Listen to Ramayana, 
Bkagawat, the Bible, etc. If you carry out these instructions, 
you will recover soon and be in a position to share my work. 

Babo must be going to school. Let them all do their own 
work with their own hands. That will make them self-reliant. 
I am keeping well. The burden of work is heavy. Manu will 
be writing about all other things. I am instructing Manu to 
write to you every week even if I am not able to do so. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 340-1 

80. ERAGMENT OE A LETTER 

November 23, 1947 

Just now I have written an article’ on Shrimanji’s letter. 
Do read it. Why do we find the linguistic [problem] so diffi- 
cult? But these days instead of settling our problems we think 
it is brave and clever to fight over everything. Or this is 
considered some sort of a fashion nowadays. 

Things are not all right here. People’s hearts are filled with 
poison. I am thinking what my duty is in these circumstances. 
I also feel that the leaders are no longer honest. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, p. 341 

’ Vide pp. 85-7. 


90 



81. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 

November 23, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Gandhiji apologized to the radio men for his occasional breach of the 
rule that his speech should not exceed twenty minutes, not even fifteen, if 
possible. He said that he could not always observe the rule for his main 
purpose was to reach the hearts of the audience that was physically before him. 
The radio came next. He did not know whether there was any arrange- 
ment whereby the radio could record longer speeches. He was not in the 
habit of speaking without purpose or for the sake of hearing his own voice. ^ 

A gentleman writes to ask me whether one should take to 
violence if one’s rights are not granted. We cannot secure our 
rights through violence. I would even say that we can secure 
nothing through violence. Apparently, it seems we can get our 
things that way. But how? Supposing a child is having a 
rupee. If I slap him twice and take away that rupee, I may 
have the satisfaction of having got the rupee, but how much 
would I have lost in the bargain? What could the poor child 
do? But it would prick me that I snatched away the rupee 
from the poor child by beating him. Of course there are any 
number of such rogues in the world. But I cannot do such a 
thing. I have no right to deprive anyone like that. Snatching 
away something would have a bad result. That is why I say 
that we cannot demand rights with violence. There is only one 
way of securing our rights which I have already explained.^ 
Everybody approved of it. I have stated my view about the 
rights of the people and how they can be achieved. I would say 
that there is nothing like a right. For the one who has no duties 
there are no rights either. In other words, all rights emanate 
from duties — if there is no duty, there is no right either. When 
I do my duty, it brings some result and that is my right. For 
instance, I eat because it is my duty to do so. If I eat for 

* Gandhiji exhorted the audience to observe silence which was being 
disturbed by the murmur among women who were present in a large number. 
Complete silence was then restored. 

^ This paragraph is from Harijan. 

3 Vide Vol. LXXXVIII, pp. 230-2 and 236-8. 


91 



92 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


pleasure, I fall victim to some disease or other. If I eat be- 
cause it is my duty to eat, if I pray to God, if I serve the 
world, that itself is my right. What is my right? It is the 
right to serve. You would ask me how that can be called a 
right. But you would understand this if you thought over it a 
little. I would say that that itself becomes the right. Suppose 
I work for the whole day and earn eight annas — I get those eight 
annas as my right. How did I have that right? Because I worked. 
If I do not work and take eight annas, I appropriate that 
amount, I do not have it as my right. I can have a right only 
when I fulfil my promise to work and that too sincerely in 
thought, word and deed. But if I do not work with my heart in 
it, if I exploit the employer and deceive him because he is not 
noticing it, then it is a sin. When I know that everybody is 
getting a rupee I too want to have a rupee for myself. But when 
can I have it? Only when I have the employer’s permission. 
I would ask him why, when everybody is getting one rupee, I 
should work for eight annas only, and would ask for at least fifteen 
annas. He may say that I should work for eight annas or leave. 
What should I do in that case? Should I burn his property? 
Obstruct his work? Do picketing? Go on fast? If I say that 
I would resign but not work for eight annas, then I would be 
acting like a gentleman. I would say that whatever you do, you 
must do in a decent way. Decency means following one’s reli- 
gion, doing one’s duty and earning one’s rights non-violently by 
performing one’s duty. Let us not try to get anything through 
violence — that is the only way to sustain the world. Otherwise 
things go wrong in the world. 

I have already talked to you about the Christians. Today 
I will tell you about the Harijans. It is a matter of shame for 
us that there are Harijans in Rohtak, or, say, in Rohtak 
district — they were there everywhere before and are still there. 
There are the Jats and perhaps Ahirs too. They felt that 
the Harijans were their slaves and they could get any work 
done by them. Once again the question of their rights 
came and they felt that the Harijans were born slaves. They 
may be given water and food but they can get nothing by 
right. I regard this as arrogance. This was prevalent during 
the days of the British and now it is all the more there. These 
poor Harijans are timid, so they came to me and asked me what 
they should do in the face of harassment. Should they remain 
slaves or die or leave Rohtak? It is quite understandable that 
they cannot leave the place. If they leave Rohtak, other people 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


93 


would suffer, because their work would be affected. But this 
means that Harijans have to remain slaves forever. And so, those 
poor people came. Some of them study in schools, some are study- 
ing further and some lag behind; some even learn crafts, but 
what can they tell those who are harassing them? We have now 
reached a stage when we do not stop to think where we are 
going. During the British days we used to be afraid of being 
beaten or killed. Now that the alien rule has ended we think 
that no one can do us any harm. We feel that we can even 
intimidate a judge if we are brought before him. We think that 
the judge can do nothing to us. We have become so arrogant. 
The result is that the Harijans are ruined. So, I suggested to 

them that they should go to Thakkar Bapah He was born just 

to serve the Harijans and the tribals. He does everything for 

the Harijans. So those people went to him and came back to 

tell me that he was not doing anything for them. I knew what 
they wanted. They are seated right here. I told them that they 
should go to Dr. Gopichand^. What if he has become the 
Premier now? He used to attend to every work of the Hari- 
jan Sevak Sangh at one time. I decided to meet him since he 
was coming here today, and I met him. But what can be done 
when the people there have become such tyrants, resort to 
coercion and refuse to listen? The British rule is no longer 
there, and the people cannot behave like that. Then what should 
the Harijans do? So, I thought that today I should talk about 
the sad plight of the Harijans. Can we not do even this much? 
What is our duty today? So far we have acted against dharma 
in regarding the Harijans as untouchables and slaves. We com- 
mitted that mistake, that sin, and the Harijan Sevak Sangh 
came into being^ by way of expiation. The Sangh has done 
considerable work. But not all Hindus have taken the same stand. 
Millions of Hindus have not even accepted the Sangh. If all 
Hindus had accepted it, where was the need for me to narrate 

^ A. V. Thakkar (1869-1951); joined the Servants of India Society in 
1914; established the Bhil Seva Sadan in 1922; General Secretary, Harijan 
Sevak Sangh; President, Gujarat Antyaja Seva Mandal; Secretary, Kasturba 
Gandhi National Memorial Trust, 1944-51; established the Bharatiya Adimjati 
Sevak Sangh 

^ Gopichand Bhargava (1889-1966); President, Harijan Sevak Sangh in 
the Punjab; Chief Minister of the Punjab, 1947-51 

^ On October 26, 1932, initially under the name of Anti-Untouchability 
League, with G. D. Birla as President and A. V. Thakkar as General 
Secretary 



94 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


this sad tale? During the days of the British we used to abuse 
them and say that we would become good if the British did not 
rule us. Now the British have gone. But have we become good 
or bad? I would say that there is more degeneration now than 
before. We used to commit excesses and are committing them 
even now. First we oppressed the Muslims. This too was a sin. 
Forget that Pakistan has come into being, don’t think of it. If 
one man commits a sin should we also do the same? You will 
realize that it is bad if you think over it. One wrong leads to 
another. We have killed a large number of people. We have 
acquired false courage and we are determined to kill the 
Christians, and then we want to have Jatistan, Ahiristan and so 
many separate states. But no one is keen about building up 
India. We must accept the Harijans. They too are Hindus 
like us. They are not the fifth caste. Hinduism has no fifth 
varna\ there are only four, and these four varnas are not graded 
as high or low. Among these four varnas the first teaches 
religion, the second protects people, the third practises trade — 
to collect millions of rupees, not for personal use but for the 
welfare of the people — and the fourth serves the society. But 
people belonging to the four varnas can mingle with one 
another. It is not as though a Shudra, if he became a barris- 
ter, could not practise law. He can serve even after becoming 
a barrister. One who teaches religion serves, so does the one 
who practises trade and is in employment and also the one who 
sweeps. All these four are fields of service. The one who 
teaches religion has to learn more. But that does not mean that 
he commits a sin by giving up his profession and going in for 
another. It is not that he cannot do that. Similarly, we created 
so many castes and now are creating the fifth varna. This is 
wrong, it is an act of wickedness. Everything will be all right 
if each follows his religion. Now, when we are having the reins 
of power in our hands, it seems to me that things would be 
all right if the Hindus and the Sikhs followed their respective 
religions. I have finished for the day and the meeting is also 
over. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 109-12 



82. LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI 


November 24, 1947 

CHI. JIVANJI, 

I am sending you plenty of material today. I have not been 
able to enclose the translations. Please, therefore, wait for the 
post tomorrow also. Can you make really good arrangements 
for translation there? Rajaji' is sitting by my side just now — 
though, of course, I am observing silence. I will not, therefore, 
write more. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 9987. Also C. W. 6961. 
Courtesy: Jivanji D. Desai 


83. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 24, 1947 

Today I observe silence; and also write for Harijan. The 
articles I can somehow manage, but the letters pile up. I try 
to reply to them with due care, but rarely succeed in the 
effort. Should I not consider this as my shortcoming? I get 
up at 3.30 in the morning and devote all the time after prayers 
to writing. I snatch some time to doze a little. Then I go for a 
walk. From this moment right up to the time I retire at night, 
I am so hard pressed for time that I do not get a moment’s 
respite. But I have to listen to people in connection with the work 
for which I am camping here. That is how the cart jogs along. 

Once again since last night communal riots have flared up 
in Delhi. Who knows what scenes God intends to show me! 
My faith goes on increasing each day and the mind is tranquil. 
The body gets tired when I am required to speak a lot. Then 
I make some quick changes in my diet. 

* C. Rajagopalachari, Governor of Bengal, who was officiating as the 
Acting Governor-General from November 10 to November 26, when Lord 
Mountbatten was away in England to attend the marriage of Princess 
Elizabeth with Prince Philip Mountbatten. 


95 



96 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


All of US are, however, playthings in the hands of Rama. 
We have to dance to His tune. I hope you are all well. How 
are the conditions there? It seems that the controls are now 
on the way out. . . .' 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 347-8 

84. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 24, 1947 

The situation is becoming quite delicate here. There is too 
much rancour among the Sikhs. Only yesterday some Sikhs went 
inside a Muslim house in Chandni Chowk and beat up the 
inmates.^ What has become of us? 

Today only this much. I have been awake since 3 in the 
morning. I am tired because I have written quite a lot. Just 
now I wish to lie down for some rest and Rajendra Babu will 
be here shortly. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 348 


85. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 

November 24, 1947 

You are good enough, when I enter the prayer-ground, to 
make ample room for me and my daughters to allow us to pass 
through. I would urge you to observe the same orderliness 
when after the prayer I go out. There is an unseemly rush 
to touch me as I pass. The crowd press in upon me. I know 
and value your affection. I want it to take the shape not 
of effusiveness but of some constructive service of the country 
such as I have pointed out on many an occasion and in my 
numerous writings. The first and foremost today is communal 
harmony. Formerly the discord was of a negative character. 

’ Omission as in the source 

^ Vide also the following item. 

^ As Gandhiji was observing silence, his written message in Hindustani 
was read out. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


97 


Today it is of a most virulent type. The Hindus and the Sikhs 
on the one hand and the Muslims on the other have become 
enemies of each other with the shameful results which we have 
already seen. 

Those who attend the prayer should not only be free from 
rancour against one another, but should actively assist in re- 
establishing the communal harmony which was our pride during 
the Khilafat days. Have I not attended the huge friendly ga- 
therings of those days? They had gladdened my heart when I 
witnessed them. Will those days never return? 

Take the latest tragedy that took place in the heart of the 
capital city yesterday. Some Hindu and Sikh refugees are reported 
to have gone out to an empty Muslim house and unlawfully 
attempted to occupy it. A scuffle ensued and some were 
injured, though none fatally. This incident, bad as it was, was 
exaggerated out of all proportion. The first report was that 
four Sikhs were murdered. The sequel was to be expected. 
Retribution followed and several stabbings took place. A new 
technique seems to have been established now. The Sikhs with 
drawn swords, which seem to have taken the place of little 
kirpans, with or without the Hindus, visit Muslim houses and 
demand evacuation. This is a monstrous state of things in 
this, the capital city, if the report is true. If it is untrue, it 
may be dismissed. If it is true, it demands urgent attention 
not only from the authorities but the public as well. The former 
will be impotent, if the public is not behind them. 

I am not sure what my duty is in this case. Things are 
evidently going from bad to worse. The full moon day of Kartik 
will soon be upon us. All kinds of rumours have been pouring 
in. I hope that they are all untrue, as they proved to be for 
the Dussehra and the Bakr-Id. 

One lesson to be learnt from these rumours is that we are 
living a disturbed life, which is not good for any State or nation. 
Every servant of the nation has to consider seriously the part 
he has to play towards the abatement of this corroding nuisance. 

It is well to consider at this stage a long letter from Sardar 
Sant Singh of Lyallpur, former M. L. A. (Central). He has put 
up a forcible defence for the Sikhs. He has read into my 
prayer speech* of last Wednesday a meaning which the words 
do not bear and certainly never meant by me. Perhaps the good 
Sardar does know of my intimate connection with the Sikhs ever 

* Vide pp. 71-5. 

90-7 



98 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


since my return from South Africa in 1915. There was a time 
when my word was law to them as to the Hindus and the 
Muslims. Manners have changed with the times. But I know 
that I have not. The Sardar, perhaps, does not view the present 
tendency among the Sikhs as I, their avowed, dispassionate 
friend without any axe of my own to grind, can and do. I speak 
freely and frankly because I am their true friend. I make bold 
to say that many a time the Sikh situation was saved because 
the Sikhs in general chose to follow my advice. I need, 
therefore, no reminder that I should be cautious about what I 
say about the Sikhs or any other community. Let the Sardar 
and every Sikh, who wishes well by them and is not carried 
away by the prevailing current, help in ridding the great and 
brave community of madness, drunkenness and all the vices 
that flow from it. Let them sheathe the sword which they have 
flourished loudly and used badly. Let them not be fooled by 
the Privy Council judgement if it means that the kirpan is a 
sword of any length. A kirpan ceases to be sacred when it goes 
into the hands of an unprincipled drunkard or when it is used 
anyhow. A sacred thing has to be used on sacred and lawful 
occasions. A kirpan is undoubtedly a symbol of strength, which 
adorns the possessor only if he exercises amazing restraint over 
himself and uses it against enormous odds against himself. 

The Sardar will pardon me when I say that I have fairly 
studied the history of the Sikhs and drunk deep of the essence 
of the Granthsaheb. Tested by the tenets of that scripture, what is 
said to have been done by the Sikhs is indefensible and suicidal. 
The Sikh bravery and integrity must not be frittered away on 
any account. It can be an asset to the whole of India. In my 
opinion, it is a menace which it should not be. 

Of course, it is nonsense to suggest that the Sikhs are enemy 
No. 1 of Islam. Have I not been described as such? Is the 
honour to be divided between them and me? I have never 
desired the honour. My whole life is a standing testimony 
against the charge. Can the same be said of the Sikhs? Let 
them learn the lesson from the Sikhs who stand behind the 
Sher-e-Kashmir*. Let them repent of the follies committed in 
their name. 

I know the vicious suggestion that the Hindus would be all 
right if they would sacriflce the Sikhs who would never be 
tolerated in Pakistan. I can never be a party to any such 

* Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah; literally “the Lion of Kashmir” 



LETTER TO CHAMPA R. MEHTA 


99 


fratricidal bargain. There can be no rest for this unhappy land 
unless every Hindu and Sikh returns with honour and in safety 
to West Punjab and every Muslim refugee to the Union, bar- 
ring of course those who do not choose to do so for reasons 
of their own. The sin of mass exchange of population must be 
washed out if we are to live as peaceful and helpful neighbours. 

I must not be asked to recount the evil deeds of Pakistan. 
The recounting won’t help either the Hindu or the Sikh sufferers. 
Pakistan has to bear the burden of its sins, which I know are 
terrible enough. It should be enough for everybody to know 
my opinion (in so far as it has any value) that the beginning 
was made by the Muslim League long before the 15th of August. 
Nor am I able to say that they turned over a new leaf on the 
15th of August last. This statement of my opinion can’t help 
you. What is of moment is that we of the Union copied the 
sins and thus became fellow-sinners. Odds became even. Shall 
we now awake from the trance, repent and change or must we 
fall? 

Harijan, 7-12-1947 

86. LETTER TO CHAMPA R. MEHTA 


New Delhi, 
November 25, 1947 

CHI. CHAMPA, 

I have your letter. It does not satisfy me in the least. I 
see the old Champa in it. Once one has begun to entertain a 
doubt about a person, the latter cannot guide one. Please, there- 
fore, excuse me and leave me out of this. 

It is of course true that Bhansali’s attitude in this matter is 
different from mine. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: M.M.U./XX 



87. LETTER TO CHIMANLAL JV. SHAH 

November 25, 1947 

CHI. CHIMANLAL, 

I am enclosing herewith Ashadevi’s letter. Accordingly pay 
her Rs. 35,000. You certainly can manage the amount. You 
already have deposits with Bachchharaj Company. Moreover Brij- 
mohan came yesterday and told me that he would deposit 
another Rs. 15,000 with the firm. 

Sushila says that Babu’ has reached there but she is very ill. 
I shall now enquire and know the details. She should have 
patience and stay on in Nagpur where she has been. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


88. LETTER TO HIRAGAURI 

November 25, 1947 

CHI. HIRAGAURI, 

I have your cheque. I am glad to learn about the family’s 
well-being. Chi. Manu is now firmly settled there. Hence, there 
is no reason to worry. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


89. LETTER TO CHUNIBHAI 


New Delhi, 

November 25, 1947 

BHAI CHUNIBHAI, 

I got your letter only today. I don’t know who Subbayya 
is and it was just today that I came to know of the incident you 
write about. I have always had respect for Rishi Aurobindo^. 

* Sharda, addressee’s daughter, married to Gordhandas Chokhawala 
^ Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950); studied in England from 1880 to 1893; 
taught in Baroda and Calcutta; organized revolutionary activities and was 
sentenced for a year in May 1908; established an ashram in Pondicherry; 
author of Life Divine, The Synthesis of Toga, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of 
Human Unity, Essays on the Gita, Savitri and other works 


100 



FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 101 

I also do not know what the Government here has to say. 
Please rest assured concerning me. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


90. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 25, 1947 

I think it would be good if institutions like the Nayee Talim*, 
Ashram, etc., get integrated. There will be substantial savings 
also. The atmosphere will definitely undergo a sea-change. But 

all these aspects have to be considered by the Ashram inmates 

themselves. I see no early prospect of my going there. God will 

either save me or consume me here. Whatever the result I am 

patiently waiting for either of the two. And I look upon this 
as God’s grace. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, p. 355 


91. ERAGMENT OE A LETTER 

November 25, 1947 

Lying down I am dictating this to Chi. Manudi. My hands 
become numb from cold. Chi. Manudi is even more delicate, al- 
though she is much younger. Such is the plight of our girls. 
Let me now come to the point. 

In my view, the Junagadh problem remains unsolved. If 
the Nawab had not run away and if he had handed over 
all power voluntarily, that would have constituted real victory. 
He ran away because he was afraid of you. I do not con- 
sider this a glorious achievement. What I wanted was that 
the Nawab should have stayed and done the will of his 
subjects. He could not become a servant of the people. This is 
possible only in a non-violent struggle. A mighty power like 
England was subdued by a struggle based on truth and non- 
violence and it transferred all power with its own hands. We 
have this illustration before us, and yet you could not win over 


’ Hindustani Talimi Sangh 



102 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

the poor little ruler of Junagadh through love. I am not pre- 
pared to give credit to Shamaldas for any success or bravery. 
He is my own nephew. No one else knows him as well as I do. 
But what is the use of stretching the point? It is enough for 
me if I can die with Rama’s name on my lips and truth and 
non-violence in my heart. 

Chi. Manudi often gives me news about Kathiawar. Men 
from Kathiawar, like Balwantrai, Anantrai Pattani and Dhebar, 
come and see me from time to time. I cannot listen to them 
all. Manu has shaped well and can understand and discuss the 
problems. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — pp. 355-6 


92. LETTER TO PRABHAKAR 


New Delhi, 

November 25, 1947 

CHI. PRABHAKAR, 

I have your letter. To me April is very far off. When the 
time comes I shall let you know who should accompany me. I 
think you will have to come. It is good that you met Mataji. 
I understand what you say about Zohrah She should get well 
now. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 9041. Also C. W. 9165. Courtesy: 
Prabhakar 


93. LETTER TO KRISHNACHANDRA 

November 25, 1947 

CHI. KRISHNACHANDRA, 

I have your letter. You did well in writing about the weaving 
department. I have seen a part of it and the rest I shall see 
whenever I find time. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


^ Wife of Akbar Chavda 



94. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 25, 1947 

. . .* I thought you were an innocent girl. One cannot think 
of marriage in this jajna. Yes, if your mother and father are keen 
you can get married but I cannot have the marriage here. Today 
I am burning in this fire-pit. Let us see what path God shows 
us in the end. You must complete your nursing course. 

I have heard many other things also about the Ashram. 
Don’t you think it is your duty to write to me about all this? 
If you cannot abide by the rules of the Ashram, you should 
leave it. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 355 


95. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 25, 1947 

I am sorry that I did not answer your letter till today. I 
beg your forgiveness. Today we are steadily going down and 
God knows to what depth. Khwaja Saheb met me yesterday.^ 
He may come today also. I am considering what my duty is 
when there is a threat to the lives of Khwaja Saheb and women 
like Sophiabehn^. I realize what a blunder we have committed 
in partitioning the country and we continue to make more and 
more blunders. It is possible that I am mistaken. Let us see 
what path God shows us. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 356 


* Omission as in the source 

2 After hearing from Khwaja Abdul Majid, President, All-India Muslim 
Majlis, about his experiences Gandhiji had remarked: “Had they killed you, I 
would have danced (with joy). And by dying you would have rendered ser- 
vice both to Muslims and Hindus.” 

^ A Congress Seva Dal worker, who had come to see Gandhiji on 
November 23 


103 



96. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 
November 25, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Today I want to tell you something about the refugees from 
Pakistan. But the difficulty is whether they should be called 
refugees. Some persons met me yesterday and asked me why I was 
referring to them as refugees. In a way they are right because 
those who seek shelter are known as sharanarthi — refugees. They 
said they had been driven here by their troubles, but why 
should they seek anybody’s protection here, especially since they 
have come to India and India belongs to everyone? I think of 
Pakistan as also included in India. But if it is not part of India 
today and India is divided into two parts, the Indian Union 
belongs and should belong to everybody. So, when they come over 
here, they do so as a matter of right. From this point of view those 
persons’ remark appeared right to me. When a person is facing 
hardships in a place and escapes from that place and comes and 
takes shelter on the lap of his mother, shall we call him a refugee 
or a person who has come as a matter of right? I told them 
that they must admit that I had no ill feeling in my heart which 
would make me use harsh words. In fact, we have been such slaves 
of the English language that we cannot free ourselves from that 
slavish mentality. Hence the word refugee, and it could mean 
only one thing, as popularized by the Press, namely, sharanarthi or 
nirashrit. Then those people remarked that there were many 
other words in English. Why should they not be called ‘sufferers’. 
I know English sufficiently well. So, how could I call them suffer- 
ers? Then, what should I call them? I thought they may be called 
dukhi because they are disconsolate. But in a way, we are all 
full of sorrow in this life. As a matter of fact those who have 
come here in millions leaving their homes and property are in 
great misery. I would therefore like to talk about them today. 

Three types of people came to see me today. One type I 
would leave out altogether. The person had a big joint family in 
Lahore. He used to run some hotels, etc., and all his houses and 
property were left behind and he came here with his wife and 
children. He did not bring all the family members here. He 

104 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


105 


narrated everything to me and requested me to find some accom- 
modation for him. I told him that I had no authority, and even 
if I had, I would not fix any accommodation for him. As it was, there 
was housing shortage in Delhi and the local people themselves were 
in great trouble; the Government requisitioned their houses. When 
an officer or a diplomat arrived, he could not be put up in a 
tent. Hence, the Government acquired some houses and made 
the allotment for the purpose. If the original occupants protested 
and asked where they could go, they were asked to go anywhere. 
The Government, of course, did not go to that extent, but it 
could go, and many people would have received notices to vacate 
their houses. Under these conditions, how could these millions 
of suffering people be provided accommodation? He told me 
that he had come here after losing seventeen members [of his 
family]. I told him that at least he had seventeen members in 
his family. There were some families where there was no one 
apart from a man and a woman. I told him that if he 
believed that he belonged to the whole of India, even after 
the loss of the seventeen members who were dead and gone, 
the rest of India was there for him. Well, this is just philo- 
sophizing, so let us leave it here. Then I told him that he 
should go and live in the camps. All types of people were 
living there and there was nothing wrong about it. He said 
that he was no beggar to live on charity. I assured him he cer- 
tainly was not one and if I were in charge of the refugee camps, 
I would not give food on charity. I would tell them that they 
were able-bodied and should work and maintain themselves and 
weave their own cloth. I would of course tell them to cover 
themselves during the night and protect themselves against the 
dew. But they needed no covering during the day. The sky was 
clear and they should take warmth from the heat of the sun. I did 
not stay inside during the day. I enjoyed the sun outside. But he 
said that he could not do that. He had young children with him 
and he needed a house to live in. I asked him if he was the only 
person having children. I found in every camp I visited mothers 
with their children. Some women were pregnant and gave birth 
to their children right there in the camps. What was his objec- 
tion then to living in a refugee camp? I said he should eat what 
other refugees were eating and work as others did; he was strong 
and sturdy and might as well run a hotel or something. Why then 
should he not do something which might bring relief to others? 

He asked me: “Why should the Muslims living here not vacate 
their houses and go away? Why are they still here?” I was deeply 



106 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

pained to hear this. In the first place the Muslims are already 
running away in panic and even from among those who have 
stayed back some are being slaughtered daily. Everyone goes 
and tells them: “Go away, we want to live in your houses.” 
If everybody exercises authority, who will be the subjects 
and to whom would the country belong? Everybody cannot 
wield authority. Nowhere in the world things happen like this. 
Of course, it is said that among the savages there is no 

leader. But even bandits have a leader. In the case of Ali 

Baba and the forty thieves there was at least one leader. Thus 
there is no place in the world where all would be leaders or 
there would be no leader at all. We, however, do not know 
how to wield power and how to rule ourselves. That is the 
reason why we are in trouble today. It is deplorable that you 

should have designs on the houses of the Muslims who have fled 

in panic or have been killed or arrested by the police. It does 
not befit you. If at all, you can say that to me because the 
house in which I stay is like a palace. You can ask me to leave 
this place and go and live in a camp. You can say that it would 
make no difference to me, for I have no wife, no sons, no daughters, 
that I have gathered these girls from somewhere and call them my 
daughters, that I should go to the camps and regard all the girls 
there as my daughters. I would listen to you if you said that to 
me. I would certainly feel amused, for, even if I ran away, would 
you stay here? This house belongs to someone else. It is not 
mine. Of course the owner of this house has made me the 
owner and insisted that I should keep or prevent anyone from stay- 
ing here as I please. How can the Muslims leave their houses? 
Only Gandhi is in a position to do that. If he is removed from 
here and dumped somewhere no one is going to leave him un- 
attended. Somebody would give him milk, fruits, dates and some- 
how his things would be managed. He is not going to remain 
unclothed. For even clothes would be provided for him. When I 
talked like this to that gentleman he felt ashamed. 

Then some Sikh gentlemen came to me. They said they were 
not like the Sikhs here. The surprising thing was that they did 
not carry kirpans. I did not ask them the reason. However, they 
did wear metal wristlets on their wrists and I think they also had 
beards. They told me they were in great distress. They belonged 
to the Hazara district where they owned and tilled land. They 
were ready to live by farming if they were provided land and 
implements. I was touched by what they said and felt they were 
right. I asked them why they did not go to East Punjab. They 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


107 


informed me that the East Punjab Government could accommodate 
only people coming from West Punjab. They were told that the 
Government could not accommodate people coming from every 
place. Since they belonged to the Frontier Province they were 
asked to approach the Union Government. 

Even though the Central Government does not have land, it 
would be nice if it could get land for these people. The Govern- 
ment should arrange to get for them oxen, ploughs, seeds, etc. 
I do not know if there is sufficient land in the province of Delhi. 
But those who want to use the plough should be settled somewhere. 
Had I been in charge of the Government, I would have set up 
a separate camp for them, where they could produce their own 
requirements of food. If that is not possible, let the Government 
give them loan to meet the expenses of these things. These 
people say that they do not have any money now, but they 
are industrious and if they could get facilities they would pro- 
duce everything and would not sit idle. It seems to me that the 
country is losing much because such farmers are just sitting idle 
in so many places. They are our brothers and we must do some- 
thing for them. I do not know whom I should approach in the 
Government. But through you I want to make it known to the 
Government that it is our duty to help such people. They ask me 
where they could go and stay and how they could eat. I would 
say that there should be a separate camp for them. But till that 
is arranged they should live and manage their things in the 
camps that are already there. If they cannot be given any place 
here, any vacant place anywhere in India is as good. They do 
not insist on being accommodated only here. They do not even 
say that they should be allotted any Muslim house. They say 
that they do not want to make others pass through the hardships 
they have known. They say they are poor people. They are 
strong enough but their strength is not for intimidating others. 
They want to live in whatever way they can with fear of God 
in their hearts. I told them that their trouble was only a passing 
phase. They wondered how that could be — ^just as somebody here 
wonders — how it could happen that the people who have come 
from Pakistan would go back there and the Muslims who have 
run away to Pakistan would return here, as I have been saying. 
I told them that it would happen, if not today, then tomorrow. 
But the condition is that we on our side should become good. 
Let us convince ourselves that there is none who is our enemy. 
Even the Muslims are not our enemies. Some people say that even 
here the Muslims are fifth-columnists. How could the poor things 



108 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


be fifth columnists? Nobody can harass us here and if anyone 
dares to do so, God will see to him or our Government will 
put him down. If we come to our senses here today, everything 
will be well tomorrow; I too will be free. Today I am very 
much disturbed. My life has become a burden to me. I wonder 
why I am still here. I could become strong if Delhi were re- 
stored to sanity, and then I would rush to West Punjab and 
tell the Muslims who have gone away from here that I have 
prepared the ground for them and they could come back any 
time they wanted and live wherever they chose. Such an occasion 
is bound to come some time, for how long can crores remain 
enemies of each other? It is not possible to kill or drive away 
350 to 400 million Muslims who are here in India. One cannot 
even dream of it and I do not want to entertain any such dream. 
But today I have become a sort of burden. There was a time 
when my word was law. But it is no longer so. Should I run 
away in that case? Whether I live or die, those who are living 
in misery will certainly return to their homes with honour and 
respect, not in order to pick up a fight with anyone but to meet 
their own brethren. Similarly, the Muslims should come back 
here. That is the only thing that can keep us alive and in no 
other way can we survive. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 117-22 

97. LETTER TO LILAVATI ASAR 

November 26, 1947 

CHI. LILI, 

Your letter has arrived very promptly. Take care of your 
health and devote yourself entirely to your studies. Ponder over 
what you read and digest it; then everything will become easy. 
My blessings are ever with you. Your studies must be your 
first concern. Don’t be scared by anything you hear about me. 
If you want to honour my wishes your paramount task is to 
pass your examinations. I am already being well looked after. 
You will be rendering enough service if I do not have to worry 
about you. 

You can have the Rs. 100 from me. Do you need the money 
urgently? If you do, shall I give you a note to someone or 
shall I send the sum by money order? 



FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 109 

After you left I remember to have taken clove and sugar 
only once. 

It was good you came — even if you had to pay first-class 
fare. You are now about to become a doctor, so occasionally 
you must travel first-class. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


98. LETTER TO PRABHUDAS GANDHI 

November 26, 1947 

CHI. PRABHUDAS*, 

I have your letter. Stay calm. I have written you a long 
letter, which you should get by now. If I have a copy it will be 
enclosed with this. Go to Noakhali only after you have completely 
recovered. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


99. ERAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 26, 1947 

The Hyderabad problem has erupted in a more unpleasant 
manner.2 Kashmir is in the cauldron. I was not in favour of 
partition of India because I could foresee these developments. 
Hence I am not surprised at this crisis we are facing today. Those 
brothers and sisters who joined the Congress or courted imprison- 
ment are scrambling for power and fame, as if they had done me a 

* Son of Chhaganlal Gandhi 

2 The Nizam of Hyderabad had sent a second delegation to Delhi adopt- 
ing the line that Hyderabad would prefer to remain an independent sovereign 
State “in close association with the two Dominions”. 

On November 29 a standstill agreement for one year was signed between 
the Nizam and the Government of India, under which “all agreements and 
administrative arrangements as to matters of common concern, including 
External Affairs, Defence and Communications, which were existing between 
the Crown and the Nizam before August 15, 1947, shall . . . continue as 
between the Dominion of India and the Nizam.” Vide also pp. 8-9. 



110 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

favour in doing what they did. I receive heaps of letters on this 
subject every day. They evoke not anger but pity in my mind at 
the mentality of our patriots. May God grant good sense to all. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 361-2 

100. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 26, 1947 

You must have got well by now. Your present duty is to 
study. You will gain nothing by giving up studies and coming 
to me. I will consider, and so should you, that you are serving 
me if you prosecute your studies and render service appropriate to 
your education. It is not as if one could serve me only by mas- 
saging my feet or making a couple of khakhras^ for me. On the 
contrary, those who render to the poor some useful service of my 
liking render real service. But your foremost duty is to recover. 

Chi. Manudi is well. She takes down copious notes. She feels 
the cold a lot. There is, in fact, a Gujarati proverb which says 
“The goat nibbles away the cold of a child.” But here it is the 
reverse. The old man’s cold has been nibbled away by the goat! 

I have written enough today — haven’t I ? Do the duty 
that falls to your lot with a steady mind. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — p. 362 

101. LETTER TO S. M. QASLM RLZVI 

November 26, 1947 

BHAI SYED SAHEB^, 

I am glad that we met. What you said amazed me. It 
was difficult to believe it. I had asked you if I could send you 

* Crisp, thin, paper-like chapatis 

^ Leader of Ittehad-ul-Mussalmeen, an organization which was terror- 
izing the Hindus of the State, opposed accession of the State to India and 
wanted independence for the Nizam. 

The addressee had persuaded the Nizam to dissolve the first delega- 
tion and to appoint another to resume negotiations with the Government 
of India. Vide also footnote 2, p. 109. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


111 


copies of some documents in my possession. I have many other 
complaints besides these about you and the Muslims of Hydera- 
bad but I think these three samples are sufficient. 

Syed Mohammed Rizvi 

Darussalaam 

Hyderabad 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


102. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 26, 1947 

I know that translations that appear in the newspapers are 
sometimes wrong and that is why I myself translate into English. 
God knows how it happened in spite of this. 

Incidentally only yesterday Khwaja Saheb had come. He 
also told me the same. I was very much surprised to hear all 
this. How nice it would have been if somebody had killed him ! 
And he is a man who would have died bravely taking the name 
of God. 

I wish to go and stay in a Muslim locality. Nothing has been 
decided as yet. Let us see. The Hyderabad issue is a difficult 
one, Junagadh’s has become a sort of a farce. I don’t think it 
was a great achievement on our part. After all, didn’t we have 
the support of the Indian army? 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 362-3 


103. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 26, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

A gentleman has written a letter to me. It is accompanied 
with a cutting from a Bombay newspaper. It is stated in that 
cutting that Gandhi is only carrying on propaganda for the 
Congress, but people are not interested in hearing it. If the Con- 
gress uses the radio, etc., like this for its own propaganda, it is bound 
to bring about dictatorship in the end. It is absolutely incorrect to 
say that I sing praises of the Congress I do not sing anybody’s 



112 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

praises and, if I do, I sing the praises of the whole world. The 
cutting also says that the talk of non-violence is just for show, the 
real purpose being self-glorification by the Government. But I would 
say that no government which indulges in self-glorification can 
survive. And I only want to serve dharma. I speak to you only 
about things related to dharma. Maybe, some people are not 
interested in hearing what I say. But there are others who write 
to tell me that they feel greatly encouraged by what I say. No- 
body forces people to listen to me against their wishes. If your 
mind is somewhere else, you are free to leave this place without 
listening to what I say. If you leave me alone, I would neither 
have the prayer here, nor deliver the speeches. I am not particular 
about speaking on the radio. I do not like it. Even here I do 
not come with a prepared speech. 

Many of our women are in Pakistan. They are being molested. 
Those unfortunate women are made to feel ashamed. In my 
view, they have no reason to feel ashamed. It would be gross in- 
justice if any woman is considered worthless by society and aban- 
doned by her brothers, parents, and husband because she had been 
abducted by the Muslims. It is my belief that any woman who 
has the purity ofSita cannot be touched by anyone. But where can 
we find women like Sita these days? And not all women can be 
like Sita. Should we show contempt for the woman who had been 
forcibly abducted and tyrannized? She is not a woman of loose 
character. My daughter or wife too could be abducted and 
raped. But I would not hate her for that reason. Many such 
women had approached me in Noakhali. Many Muslim women 
also came. We have all become goondas. I consoled those women. 
It is the men who commit rape that should feel ashamed, not 
these poor women. 

A gentleman* remarks that supposing controls are removed 
and people start producing food for themselves in the villages and 
villagers start helping in harvesting the crops, etc., the prices 
will come down, but the prices will still rise if the farmers have to 
hire paid labour. It was customary at one time for one farmer to 
invite other farmers to help in harvesting and threshing and thus 
take the grains to the house. That practice is now forgotten, but 
should be revived. Nothing can be accomplished single-handed. 
That friend also suggests that at least one of the Ministers 
should be a peasant. Unfortunately, none of our Ministers is a 
peasant. The Sardar is a peasant by birth and has some knowledge 


* Secretary of a Provincial Congress Committee, who was a farmer 



LETTER TO D. B. KALELKAR 


113 


of agriculture, but he is a barrister by profession. Jawaharlal is 
a scholar and a great writer, but what does he know about 
farming? More than 80 per cent of our population are peasants. 
In a true democracy, there should be the rule of peasants in our 
country. They need not become barristers. They should know 
how to be good farmers, how to increase their produce and keep 
the soil fertile. If we had such peasants, I would ask Jawaharlal 
to be their secretary. Our peasant ministers would stay not in a 
palace but in a mud-house, and would toil on the land through- 
out the day. Then alone can there be a true peasant rule. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 123-4 

104. LETTER TO D. B. KALELKAR 

November 27, 1947 

CHI. KARA, 

I have your letter. I shall have a talk with Jawaharlal 
about the two points you mention. Only if he wants can some- 
thing be done about it. I was not aware that Beg was to be 
replaced. 

He must also appreciate what you write about the port. 
Let us see how far I can reach. Just now my mind is engaged in 
a single task. If I don’t succeed in it there is nothing but dark- 
ness before me. 

The four associations, viz., the Talimi Sangh, the Hindustani 
Prachar Sabha, the A. I. S. A. and the Village Industries Associa- 
tion, are meeting here by the 12th of December. You will have 
to come for that; we shall do what we can then. 

Will Christmas have the same importance now or even a long 
holiday for it? However, let the time come and let things take 
their own course. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


90-8 



105. LETTER TO SURENDRA MEDH 

New Delhi, 

November 27, 1947 

CHI. MEDH, 

I could read your letter only today. It reached here on the 
22nd instant. May you have success in your resolve; take it as 
my blessing. You do remember your resolve, don’t you, never 
to lose temper, to preserve your health in order to render service 
and to be fearless. The news you convey from there' is startling, 
yet not quite so. I know our people there too well to be startled 
by the news. And I am alarmed that we have not yet learnt the 
true lesson. Are we ever going to learn it? How can I guide 
you from this distance ? And where do I have the energy for 
that? Weigh everything on the scales of truth and non-violence 
and follow the resultant verdict. And don’t be afraid. It should 
never turn out that you had gone there to exploit and instead 
were yourself exploited. The best way is not to bother about 
what any ‘ism’ says but to associate yourself with any action 
after considering its merit. Dr. Dadoo^ has made a favourable 
impression on everybody here. Our Government here consults 
me on its various actions. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


106. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 27, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

You would have perhaps seen [the report] or you would 
see, for you could not have yet seen, that I had called on the 
Governor-GeneraP. Any time now it will be in the newspapers. 
Subsequently I called on Liaquat Ali also. I got an opportunity 
to visit both of them. We talked at length and they are working 
on something. I found that Liaquat Ali was not only ill but also 
confined to bed. He was having pain in the chest and palpitations. 

' South Africa 
2 Dr. Y. M. Dadoo 

2 Who had resumed office on November 27 on his return from England 


114 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


115 


He is better now, but has gone very weak. He is staying at the 
Viceregal Lodge, hence I went and looked him up. He is the 
Prime Minister of Pakistan as Jawaharlal is the Prime Minister 
of India. Thus he and the Finance Minister* of Pakistan, whose 
name I have forgotten, Sardar Patel and two others met and 
they have arrived at some decision. I cannot give the full report. 
If it is carried out it is possible that we might to some extent 
come out of our present confusion and hardships. But what hap- 
pens or does not happen is in the hands of God. Man, after all, 
can only try. 

You must have read in the papers that Sheikh Abdullah has 
also come here. The Kashmiris refer to him as Sher-e-Kashmir. 
And so he is. He has done a lot of work; but the remarkable 
thing is that he has won over all the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. 
There Muslims are in a majority, and the Hindus and the Sikhs 
are just a handful. None the less, he carries them all with him. 
He does nothing that would keep them discontented. Then we 
saw that while coming here he also went to Jammu. There 
have been considerable excesses by the Hindus there. This has 
not been fully reported in the newspapers. The Maharaja and 
his new Premier^ also went there. I asked Sheikh Abdullah 
jokingly if there were two Premiers. He said he also was not 
aware of it but this much he could say, that he was looking 
after the affairs of the Government there, whether there were 
one or two Prime Ministers. So he too went to Jammu. I do 
not know if what happened in Jammu was at the instance of the 
Maharaja or his new Premier. But those things happened there 
and it is a matter of great shame for us. Still Sheikh Abdullah 
did not lose his balance and the Hindus in Jammu fully supported 
him. Where then was the need to tell him anything? But he has 
still to convince Kashmir and the entire India that the only 
way for Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs is to live together in amity 
and to trust one another. Then alone can Kashmir and India 
live together. His attempts are no doubt in that direction, but 
there is one obstruction. It is a mountain region which is at a 
height of 10,000 if not 14,000 feet. It snows heavily there. That is 
why movement from one place to another is not very easy. The 
movement would be easy only through Pakistan. But who could 
say that Pakistan would allow the movement? Apart from that, 
fighting is already going on with the Afridi invaders who may 

* Ghulam Mohammed 

2 Mehrchand Mahajan, Judge of the Punjab High Court, was appointed 
Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in November 



116 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


well be said to belong to Pakistan. Under these circumstances, 
how can the Kashmiris come via Pakistan? The Government of the 
Indian Union has already sent help to them and they can have a 
straight road only through India. There is not much of trade in 
Kashmir, but the people of Kashmir are industrious and skilled 
in handicrafts. Kashmir is a huge fruit garden. But who would 
bring all those things from there and how? Everything cannot 
be brought by air. And how can those vendors travel by air ? That 
is not possible. So, the only way is through Pathankot in East 
Punjab. It is a small road but at least there is one. But the 
Hindus of East Punjab have become so bad that no Muslim can 
cross that road. The Sheikh says that that is the greatest danger. 
He is a very big man but he says that even for him it is difficult 
to pass through that way. Not only the police guards but even 
ordinary people try to enquire from anyone passing that way who 
he is and would like to lift his turban to see if he wears a tuft 
and do similar things. If he happens to be a Hindu, or a Sikh, 

well and good, but if he is a Muslim then he is doomed. Such 

is the situation prevailing there. 

So the Governor-General and these four have met. It would 
be well if they are able to do something. And they have done 

some little bit. But what is the use of their doing anything? If 

the people themselves are caught in a frenzy, then nothing can be 
done. I would tell the people of East Punjab that enough dam- 
age had been done, and now let us forget everything. Or, would 
things always be like this? I would say that that road should 
be absolutely clear. The Government also should fully carry out 
its responsibility. If the Government is not able to do this, what 
is the use of our having sent the army by air? Will it help in 
carrying on trade in Kashmir? If not, is the Indian Union go- 
ing to feed the Kashmiris? That is not possible. If today our 
Government has come to possess millions of rupees, would it go 
on squandering that money? I hear that every officer in the Gov- 
ernment is going to have a secretary. I just do not know what he 
would do or what monthly salary he would get. If we go on squan- 
dering money at this rate, we will perish in no time. Ours is not 
a land of millionaires. It is a poor country where people earn even 
a few copper coins with great difficulty. There are only a handful of 
millionaires or businessmen. And how much money do even these 
people have? If it is squandered like this, it will all be spent in 
no time. Then there is the whole country to be looked after. We 
cannot waste money like that. So the Government will have 
to see how that road can be made safe so that anybody can pass 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


117 


on safely. Kashmiris make beautiful clothes which can be brought 
by that road. Shawls and other handicrafts can also be brought. 
So also the Kashmir dry fruits. Today you can get a Kashmir 
apple with great difficulty. Kashmir has acceded to the Indian 
Union, but how long can it remain with India in this way? 
If Kashmir does not find a safe thoroughfare, I do not know 
what would happen. Now, after mentioning the third point, I 
will wind up for the day. 

I have just received copies of the Dawn and the Pakistan Times. 
Both these are prominent dailies of Pakistan. When something 
appears in the Dawn or the Pakistan Times we cannot dismiss it. 
That way the people of Pakistan can dismiss the reports in 
The Hindustan Times or The Bombay Chronicle, can’t they? So this 
is a useless argument. I think the Dawn and the Pakistan Times 
are also good papers which are read by Muslims and run by 
leading Muslims. They write about the Muslims of Kathiawar 
in their papers. When the Sardar went to Junagadh I was happy 
to see that even the Muslims had welcomed him there. They said 
it was good he went there because they were in great trouble. 
When the Princes and the people of Kathiawar are all on one side, 
how long could Junagadh remain apart? Hence, I was happy 
that the whole problem was solved without any violence. They 
did not remain strictly non-violent, but whatever violence they 
used was after great thought and consideration. I was very happy 
to know all that. But now I hear and even the Dawn expresses 
the view that the Muslims in Kathiawar cannot live in peace. 
I have received a telegram from a Muslim at the right moment. 
Kathiawar is a region where the Muslims used to live in peace 
and nobody ever disturbed them. There were good Muslims there 
and also rebellious Muslims. They did not quarrel with one 
another, but struggled for livelihood. Now, in that same Kathia- 
war such a situation has developed that they wonder if they can 
live there at all. In such a situation, should all Muslims in Kathia- 
war run away or should the Hindus slaughter them all? They are 
terribly harassed, and for me, this is unbearable because I was 
born in Kathiawar, and I know all the Princes and thousands of 
people there. Shamaldas Gandhi, who is like a son to me, has 
become all in all there. He has also formed a Provisional Govern- 
ment there. What is the use of that Provisional Government if, 
in spite of it, innocent Muslims are killed? When people thus 
take the law into their own hands, how can the Muslims feel safe 
there? I cannot say what will happen if this state of affairs 
spreads to all other places. I do not know if all those things 



118 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


actually happened there, but I have read the report in the Dawn 
and have also received some telegrams. Later I asked some 
Hindus about it, and they said that there had been some cases 
of arson and loot, but they could not say if there were any cases 
of murder or abduction of Muslim women. But the Dawn 
reports that all the four things happened and that too on a wide 
scale. I had received several telegrams but only one telegram 
was shown to me and by mistake the others were not shown. 
Perhaps some fifty telegrams would have come to me from Mus- 
lims at different places. And they have a right to tell me that 
my son has become all-powerful there. But how can I take the 
responsibility for everything that my son may do? At the same 
time, how can I convince the world or the Muslims that way? 
What they write is true. But when could I have conveyed my 
feelings to my son? I read about it only today. Hence, through 
you I wish to convey not only to my son but to the whole of 
Kathiawar that if the Hindus have become so bad — they can be 
only Hindus because there are no Sikhs living there except 
perhaps some who might have settled there to earn their livelihood 
— then Kathiawar cannot remain undivided. We have taken 
Junagadh, no doubt, but we have done it in such a way that 
we are going to lose it — just as we won our freedom but to 
lose it. Then they remind me of what the Sardar had said in 
Junagadh. He had said that nobody would touch even a Muslim 
child provided he was loyal to Kathiawar, that is, the whole of 
India. He said he would see how anyone could even touch a young 
Muslim girl. He could say that because he is at once the Sardar 
and the Home Minister of India. He had a right to say that. 
But after his saying it, what has happened? It pains me to see 
that such things could happen in Kathiawar and people could 
become so mad. We have lost our dharma, our ability to work, 
and in this way we are going to lose our country. It was my 
duty to put all these things before you. These things are not 
reported in our newspapers. But I get all the news. It was of 
course my duty to make inquiries, but where do I have time 
for it? Hence, I have told you what I have heard. Even when 
I met Liaquat Ali I told him that I would like to ask him a 
question if he permitted. He agreed. Then I asked him if he was 
aware of what was happening in Kathiawar. He said he knew 
everything — that such things had happened and all the four things 
had taken place — but he could not say on what scale. He is 
the Prime Minister of Pakistan. That is why he openly told me 
everything, whereas I was talking with great restraint. Then I 



NO COMPARISON POSSIBLE 119 

thought I would convey to you this evening how pained I am 
by all this. 

Kathiawar is my home. When that very home is on fire, 
what chance do I have to say anything? What can I say to the 
residents of Delhi? Something or the other is always happening 
everywhere around me. How can I remain unmoved in such a 
situation? No sensible human being can remain unmoved in 
such an atmosphere. This is my sad tale, rather, the sad tale 
of the whole of India, that I have placed before you. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 125-31 

107. NO COMPARISON POSSIBLE 

A friend asked me the other day whether I shared the opinion 
often expressed that as between nationalism and religion, the 
former was superior to the latter. I said that the two were dis- 
similars and that there could be no comparison between dissimi- 
lars. Each was equal to the other in its own place. No man 
who values his religion as also his nationalism can barter away 
the one for the other. Both are equally dear to him. He renders 
unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is 
God’s. And if Caesar, forgetting his limits, oversteps them, a man 
of God does not transfer his loyalty to another Caesar, but knows 
how to deal with the usurpation. A rehearsal of this difficulty 
gave rise to satyagraha. 

Take a homely illustration. Suppose I have mother, wife and 
daughter. All the three must be equally dear to me in their own 
places. It is a vulgar error to think that a man is entitled to 
forsake his mother and his daughter for the sake of his wife. 
He dare not do the converse. And if any of the three oversteps 
her limits, the law of satyagraha comes to his assistance for the 
restoration of the equilibrium of the three forces. 

New Delhi, November 28, 1947 
Harijan, 7-12-1947 



108. LETTER TO P. KODANDA RAO 

November 28, 1947 

MY DEAR KODANDA RAO, 

I have your letter. I knew nothing about Mr. Satchell’s case 
before receiving your letter. Nothing remains to be done by me 
about the case, though I am not quite clear about it from your 
letter. I suppose Mr. Satchell is free to be in India as long as 
he likes. If he ever comes to Delhi, where I am fixed for the 
time being, I shall be delighted to meet him, who, from the 
account you give me, is a brave man. 

I never knew that Father Lash had become Bishop of Bombay. 
Is it a matter for condolence or congratulation? 

I hope Mary' is all the better for the little relaxation she 
had in America, if it was relaxation. 

I am told that things are not quite so bad there as they are 
here. I do not need to go farther from here to make the acquaint- 
ance of hell. 

With love to you two, 

M. K. Gandhi 

Shri P. Kodanda Rao 
Servants of India Society 
Nagpur, C. P. 

From a photostat: G. N. 6281 


109. LETTER TO MANKUMAR NAG 


New Delhi, 

November 28, 1947 

DEAR MANKUMAR, 

Pyarelal had written to me about your difficulty. Now your 
letter. I am powerless to do anything. You should approach 
some monied man. 

Tours sincerely, 

M. K. Gandhi 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 
* Addressee’s wife 


120 



no. LETTER TO MANIBEHN 


November 28, 1947 

CHI. MANIBEHN, 

I have your letter. I can understand your inability to come 
over after the receipt of the two resignations. It is your clear 
duty to bury yourself in your present work. I can understand 
the resignation by Vithaldash I was, however, not prepared for 
the one by Kakubhai^. Who can know a man’s nature? If his 
views on non-violence undergo a change, all that will remain will 
be trading in khadi which can be of no interest to him. I would 
certainly wish that with the change of his views he does not go 
over to the other extreme. I am returning both the letters. 

Please let both the brothers read my letter. We are all put 
to test to prove whether the metal we are made of is brass or 
gold. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


111. ERAGMENT OE A LETTER 

November 28, 1947 

It is my misfortune that Kasturba is not alive today. ^ Had 
she been alive, she would have actually demonstrated the kind 
of bravery that is expected from women in the present circum- 
stances. And whatever place our women have achieved today is 
due to Kasturba’s courage, purity and steadfast faith. She might 
have been a totally uneducated woman, but she possessed all the 
virtues which a woman should have. On the strength of these 
virtues, India and I have risen high. I do not hesitate to say that 
the country or any of her citizens can hardly repay the debt. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, p. 380 


’ V. V. Jerajani 
^ Purushottam K. Jerajani 

^ The addressee had written: “Unfortunately Kasturba is not alive 
today. Had she been alive and had she been abducted, you would have 
understood our feelings.” 


121 



112. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


November 28, 1947 

I know that khadi and all allied activities have slackened 
because we have achieved swaraj. I am caught in the flames at 
the moment. If I succeed in this work, the other activities will 
take care of themselves. But in the present climate, what can 
one hope for all these activities? Finally, of course, India will 
get what is ordained for her. What can we do? 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, p. 380 


113. SPEECH AT GURU NANAK BIRTHDAY EUNCTION 

November 28, 1947 

I fear that I might not be able to say all that I want to. I 
had also hoped that you, having gone through the military 
machine, would observe perfect silence. But the discipline has 
not reached the sisters and, therefore, they are not able to observe 
the laws of public meetings. I had the same experience when, 
some years ago, I was in Amritsar. You will admit that the 
fault lies with the men. As I entered the meeting place I saw 
the remains of bananas and oranges thrown about anyhow. These 
have not only made the place dirty, but dangerous to walk. We 
should learn to keep the roads and footpaths as clean as the 
floors in our houses. In the absence of proper receptacles I have 
noticed disciplined people putting these in a piece of paper and 
then temporarily in their pockets until they are cast in their 
places. It is the duty of men, if they have learnt the rules of 
social conduct, to teach them to the womenfolk. 

Today Baba Bachittar Singh came to me in the morning 
and insisted that I should attend the Guru Nanak birthday 
celebrations. He told me that probably over a lakh of men 
and women had assembled there, and that most of them would 
be sufferers from West Pakistan. I hesitated because I felt that 
many Sikhs had been displeased with me. The Baba nevertheless 
insisted and said that I should say my say before the meeting. 

122 



SPEECH AT GURU NANAK BIRTHDAY FUNCTION 


123 


I yielded and felt that even as a mother often gives bitter pills 
to her children, I would take the liberty of saying things, which 
might appear to be bitter. In reality and in effect they are 
meant for your good. My mother often used to administer bitter 
drugs, but I could not feel elsewhere the comfort that her 
lap provided for me. Whatever I have said to you up to now, 
I do not regret. I have said those things as your sincere friend 
and servant. I have with me Sardar Datar Singh’s daughter. 
You perhaps know him. He has lost his all in the Punjab. 
He was the owner of large tracts of land and several hundred 
fine cattle. He has lost many relatives and dear friends in Mont- 
gomery, but I am glad to be able to tell you that he has 
not shed a single tear over the misfortune, nor has he felt any 
bitterness towards the Muslims. I would like you to follow his 
example. Sikh friends have told me that one Sikh is considered 
equal to 1,25,000 men. Where is that bravery today? Have 
things come to such a pass that a minority of Muslims cannot 
live in your midst in perfect safety? 

I am free to admit that the mischief commenced in Pakistan, 
but the Hindus and the Sikhs of East Punjab and the neigh- 
bouring districts have not been behindhand in copying the mis- 
chief. The difference is that the Hindus have not the courage of 
the Sikhs, who know how to use the sword. 

You see Sheikh Abdullah with me. I was disinclined to 
bring him with me, for I know there is a great gulf between the 
Hindus and the Sikhs on the one side and the Muslims on the 
other. But the Sheikh, known as the Lion of Kashmir, although 
a pucka Muslim, has won the hearts of both by making them 
forget that there is any difference between the three. He had not 
been embittered. Even though in Jammu recently the Muslims 
were killed by the Hindus and the Sikhs, he went to Jammu and 
invited the evil-doers to forget the past and repent over the evil 
they had done. The Hindus and the Sikhs of Jammu listened to 
him. Now the Muslims and the Hindus and the Sikhs of Kashmir 
and Jammu are fighting together to defend the beautiful valley 
of Kashmir. I am glad, therefore, that you are receiving the 
two of us with cordiality. 

Let this auspicious day mark the beginning of a new chapter 
in your life. Let the disgrace of driving out the Muslims from 
Delhi cease from today. I found to my shame that as our motor- 
car was passing through Chandni Chowk, which used to be filled 
with Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, I did not notice a single Muslim 
passer-by. Surely we have not come to such a pass as to be 



124 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


afraid of the minority of the Muslims scattered throughout the 
Indian Union. If there are any traitors in their midst, our 
Government is strong enough to deal with them. We must be 
ashamed of hurting children, women or old men. Every man must 
be considered innocent before he is found guilty by a properly 
constituted court of law. 

I fervently hope that such misdeeds will become now a thing 
of the past. The kirpan is a symbol of sanctity to be exhibited and 
spent in defence of the helpless and the innocent. The tenth and 
the last Guru’ undoubtedly wielded the sword, but never, so far 
as I know, at the expense of the weak. He had imposed many 
restraints upon himself. He had many reputed Muslim disciples. 
So had the other Gurus beginning with Nanak Saheb. Your 
bravery will be testified when all those who belong to different 
faiths including Muslims become your sincere friends. 

Intoxicating drinks, drugs, dancing, debauchery and the vices 
to which many of us become addicted are not for the followers 
of the Gurus and the Granthsakeb. With the Granthsaheb as my 
witness, I ask you to make the resolution that you will keep your 
hearts clean and you will find that all other communities will 
follow you. 

Harijan, 7-12-1947 

114. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 28, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

You know that today is Guru Nanak’s birthday. Someone 
had sent an invitation to me also but at that time I had told 
him that I should be excused. But today Baba Bachittar Singh 
came to me and insisted that I should go. He came to me 
at 10 o’clock and we had to go in an hour’s time. I then 
decided that I should go. Although I have done nothing from 
my side, my Sikh friends are angry with me today. Of 
course I have tried to push a bitter pill down their throat. But 
that is how things go on in the world. The Baba insisted on 
my going there all the same. He said there must be thousands of 
Sikh men and women — and some of them must be really in 
distress — who are eager to hear me. I agreed and told him 


Guru Govind Singh 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


125 


that he should take me with him at 11 o’clock. He came at 11 
a.m. with Sheikh Abdullah. He was also to be taken there. I 
asked him how Sheikh Abdullah could come there since the 
Sikhs and the Muslims could not bear to look at one another. 
But he said that Sheikh Abdullah had done one great thing. 
He had kept the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims united in Kashmir 
and created a situation in which they would wish to live and 
die together. So I thought that Sheikh Abdullah too should go 
with us, and we took him along. I was very glad about it. There 
were thousands of Sikh men and women. I spoke but little; but 
Sheikh Abdullah spoke fairly at length, and people heard him 
with attention. There was no trace of disapproval even in their 
eyes, then where was the question of their creating noise ? After 
all, we had been invited there. And then the Sikhs are a brave 
community, so it all turned out well. I felt I should pass on this 
little information to you. 

I have received a letter from Bengal. It is from the Muslim 
Chamber of Commerce. I cannot reply to that letter; but I 
have thought about it and also enquired from Ghanshyamdas 
if he knew anything about it. He told me that the Muslim 
Chamber of Commerce wants to have dealings with the Govern- 
ment and wants to correspond with it. But the Government 
belongs to everyone, whether he be Hindu, Muslim or Parsi. 
Then, how can the Muslims, Hindus, Parsis and the Englishmen 
have separate Chambers of Commerce? Hence the Government 
has refused to recognize it. That gentleman says in his letter that 
it is indeed strange that while the Marwari and the European 
Chambers of Commerce are allowed to exist, only the Muslim 
Chamber is not being granted the permission. I could appreciate 
his point and it pained me. If the Government does not wish to 
have any dealings with the Muslim Chamber of Commerce, it 
cannot have anything to do with the Marwari Chamber of Com- 
merce and should not have anything to do with the European 
Chamber of Commerce, either. All these existed till now and 
the European Chamber of Commerce came into being because 
Europeans were in power and since we were being ruled by them 
the Viceroy used to be its President. And since he had to go 
to Calcutta during Christmas, he used to deliver long speeches 
there. But now that practice cannot be continued. How can the 
Europeans, Muslims and Marwaris have separate Chambers of 
Commerce? There can be only one Indian Chamber of Com- 
merce. If the Hindus, Muslims and Parsis start having their 
separate Chambers of Commerce, what is the use of India’s 



126 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


independence? Especially the Europeans should yield now. They 
should not do anything by remaining in isolation. They should 
refuse to have any special privileges, and insist on having the 
same rights as others. That would become a great hallmark of 
India’s independence. The European Chamber of Commerce 
used to invite the Viceroy every year. But, in my view, they can- 
not invite our Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister or even 
Lord Mountbatten. Lord Mountbatten can certainly go and meet 
them as a European. But the Chamber as such cannot invite him. 

I am a small man, but I have no doubt about my opinion. Simi- 
larly, the Marwari Chamber of Commerce cannot invite any- 
body from the Government. It can invite anyone as a Marwari, 
but not on behalf of the Chamber. They all exist because 
India exists. Even the Muslims cannot live here as a separate 
community. Let them live here as Indians. In the same man- 
ner, all Sikhs, Hindus and Europeans can live here only as 
Indians. They can all stay here as loyal citizens of India, and 
in no other capacity. Hence I thought that I should convey to 
them this important point. It is better that they hear my voice 
before they receive what I write from here. If the Muslims 
insist on having a separate existence politically and otherwise, 
then that wish cannot be granted. The Europeans can live here 
as Christians and practise the wonderful things in Christianity. 
This, after all, is their social or religious sphere. But as far as 
administration and politics are concerned, they must all be treated 
on an equal basis. Similarly, trade also belongs to everybody. 
If the Marwaris, Gujaratis, Punjabis want to have their exclusive 
shares, what would remain for India? We cannot carry on our 
work in this manner. 

I forgot to mention one thing, which I should not have for- 
gotten. I had mentioned it at the meeting of the Sikhs. But 
here too there are Sikhs and also Hindus. And what applies 
to one also applies to the other. Then I would say that we 
must regard today as the New Year day for the Sikhs. Hence, 
from today, the Sikhs have a duty to consider all the rest as 
their brethren. Guru Nanak taught no other thing. He even 
went to Mecca and has written quite a lot [about communal 
harmony]. There are many such references in the Guru Granth- 
saheb. What did Guru Govind do ? Many Muslims were his 
disciples and he even killed some people to accommodate them 
and protect them. He never killed anyone just for the sake of 
saving a Sikh. He did wield the sword, but he had accepted 
certain restrictions for its use. Thus, the Muslims may have done 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


127 


anything, but we do not have to imitate them. Let us all re- 
main good and do our duty. When I went to address the meet- 
ing of the Sikhs today, I was pained that I did not find a single 
Muslim on the road. What would be more shameful for us than 
the fact that not a single Muslim could be found in Chandni 
Chowk? I found the area crowded with men and unending rows 
of cars. But there was no Muslim among them. The only Mus- 
lim, Sheikh Abdullah, was seated next to me. How can we suc- 
ceed in these circumstances? 

A gentleman writes to me about the renovation of the 
Somnath templeh This needs money and the Provisional Govern- 
ment at Junagadh, formed by Shamaldas Gandhi, has sanctioned 
Rs. 50,000 for it. One lakh is promised from Jamnagar. When 
the Sardar came here I asked him whether even though he was 
in the Government, he would acquiesce in its giving as much 
money as it liked for Hinduism from its treasury. After all, we 
have formed the Government for all. It is a ‘secular’ government, 
that is, it is not a theocratic government, rather, it does not 
belong to any particular religion. Hence it cannot spend money 
on the basis of communities. For it, the only thing that matters 
is that all are Indians. Individuals can follow their own religions. 
I have my religion and you have yours to follow. 

Another gentleman has written well in a note. He says 
that it would be gross adharma if either the Junagadh Government 
or the Union Government gives money for the renovation of the 
Somnath temple. I think he has made an absolutely correct 
point. I then asked the Sardar if that was true. He said that that 
was not possible so long as he was alive. He said not a single 
pie could be taken out from the treasury of Junagadh for the 
renovation of the Somnath temple. If he was not going to do it, 
he said, what could poor Shamaldas do alone ? There were enough 
number of Hindus who could donate money for the Somnath 
temple. If they became miserly and did not part with money, let 
the temple remain in its present state. There were already a lakh 
and a half rupees and Jamsaheb had already given a lakh. They 
would be able to manage for more. 

I have learnt one thing more. You must have known that 
the Muslims in Pakistan have abducted our young girls. Attempts 
are being made and must be made to rescue them. Let us try 
to get back every abducted girl who is still alive there. If 


* Which was desecrated and destroyed by Mahmood Gazni during his 
invasion in 1025 A. D. 



128 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


these girls have been raped, have they lost everything by it? 
At least, I do not think so. I had even talked about it yester- 
day. Coercion cannot make one change his religion. But I hear 
that there is some talk of making some payment to reclaim these 
girls. Some hoodlums come forward to bring back the girls if 
they are paid Rs. 1,000 per girl. Has this thing become a busi- 
ness then? If somebody kidnapped one of these three girls with 
me and then demanded at least a hundred if not a thousand 
rupees, I would tell him that he had better kill the girl. My 
daughter would return if God wished to save her. Why should 
he bargain with me for her? Not only did he abduct the girl 
but he also indulged in bullying. Having abandoned his own 
religion he had come to bully me because she was my daughter. 

I would refuse to give him even a cowrie. Similarly no parent 
should make such bargains for his daughter. They must think 
that their daughters are with God and God is everywhere. If a 
girl loses her husband, where would she go? It is of course a 
different matter if the girl wants to come over from there and 
we give her the fare if she does not have it. But if a hoodlum 
comes and demands ransom money, his demand just cannot be 
accepted. I give such instances from there and also from here, 
because on our side too we have done such things and abducted 
Muslim girls. Would our Government indulge in such meanness? 
Should the East Punjab Government or the Union Government 
ask Jinnah Saheb to pay one lakh rupees for the return of Muslim 
girls in its custody? I would not give a single cowrie to the 
Government. How could it demand money as a reward for such 
abominable deeds? The Government should admit its mistake, 
make a solemn promise never to repeat it and return the girl 
along with a compensation. We are not going to achieve any- 
thing if we ourselves do not become pure and brave. 

I had discussed Kathiawar yesterday. I told you whatever 
I had read in the Pakistani newspapers and subsequently heard 
from some Hindus. But today I consulted the Sardar when he 
came to me. I told him that when he went there he had made 
big speeches assuring that no one would touch a single Muslim 
boy or girl there, but then I heard that Muslims were being looted 
and beaten up, their property was burnt and their young girls 
kidnapped. He said that as far as he was aware, certainly not 
a single Muslim was killed nor a single Muslim house looted or 
burnt. All these things happened there in the chaos prevailing 
before he visited the place. There were some cases of looting 
and probably one house was burnt. But as for killing and 



LETTER TO YVONNE PRIVAT 


129 


abducting, these two things did not take place there even then. 
An agent of the central Government or some Commissioner was 
always present there. He had been ordered to see that such 
things were not allowed. He had been instructed to have perfect 
bandobast so that nobody even touched any Muslim, let 
alone robbing or killing. Subsequently, no such thing happened. 
I asked the Sardar if I could mention the thing in the prayer 
meeting in the evening. He said I could certainly do so. He said 
that if something had happened there, he would have pursued 
the matter. He also said that the Hindu Congressmen there at 
great risk to their lives saved the Muslims and their property. 
No hooliganism could persist there. The Sardar said that as long 
as he was there and was in charge of the Home Department, 
he would not allow such a thing to happen. I was very happy 
to hear all that and asked his permission to refer to it in public. 
He said that I could gladly do so and also mention his name. 
I was so happy that yesterday I had talked about it and today 
itself I got this information. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 131-8 

115. LETTER TO TVONME PRIVATE 

Birla House, 
New Delhi, 
November 29, 1947 

DEAR BHAKTI^, 

I was so glad to receive your argued letter of 27th August. 
I see that you have grasped the fundamental difference between 
passive resistance and non-violent resistance. Resistance both 
forms are, but you have to pay a very heavy price when your 
resistance is passive, in the sense of the weakness of the resister. 
Europe mistook the bold and brave resistance full of wisdom by 
Jesus of Nazareth for passive resistance, as if it was of the weak. 
As I read the New Testament for the first time I detected no 
passivity, no weakness about Jesus as depicted in the four gospels 
and the meaning became clearer to me when I read Tolstoy’s 
Harmony of the Gospels and his other kindred writings. Has not the 

* Extracts from this and the addressee’s letter to Gandhiji appeared 
in Harijan, 7-12-1947, under the title “Do Not Lose Heart”. 

^ The name given by Gandhiji to the addressee 


90-9 



130 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


West paid heavily in regarding Jesus as a passive resister? Chris- 
tendom has been responsible for the wars which put to shame 
even those described in the Old Testament and other records, 
historical or semi-historical. I know that I speak under correction 
for I can but claim very superficial knowledge of history — modern 
or ancient. 

Coming to my own personal experience, whilst we undoubtedly 
got through passive resistance our political freedom, over which 
lovers of peace like you and your good husband' of the West are 
enthusiastic, we are daily paying the heavy price for the un- 
conscious mistake we made or, better still, I made in mistaking 
passive resistance for non-violent resistance. Had I not made the 
mistake, we would have been spared the humiliating spectacle of a 
weak brother killing his weak brother thoughtlessly and inhumanly. 

I am only hoping and praying and I want all the friends 
here and in other parts of the world to hope and pray with me 
that this blood-bath will soon end and out of that, perhaps, in- 
evitable butchery, will rise a new and robust India — not warlike, 
basely imitating the West in all its hideousness, but a new India 
learning the best that the West has to give and becoming the 
hope not only of Asia and Africa, but of the whole of the aching 
world. 

I must confess that this is hoping against hope, for we are 
today swearing by the military and all that naked physical force 
implies. Our statesmen have for over two generations declaimed 
against the heavy expenditure on armaments under the British 
regime, but now that freedom from political serfdom has come, 
our military expenditure has increased and still threatens to 
increase and of this we are proud! There is not a voice raised 
against it in our legislative chambers. In spite, however, of the 
madness and the vain imitation of the tinsel of the West, the 
hope lingers in me and many others that India shall survive 
this death dance and occupy the moral height that should 
belong to her after the training, however imperfect, in non- 
violence, for an unbroken period of 32 years since 1915. 

As to the last paragraph of your letter, I must confess my 
ignorance of psycho-analysis. Richard Gregg of U. S. A. has put 
the problem in a more concrete form than you have. You must 
have seen his letter and my reply^ in the columns of Harijan. 

I hope this will find you both in the same vigour in which 
you used to be during those happy days that you passed with me 

* Edmond Privat, whom Gandhiji addressed as “Anand” 

^ Vide pp. 1-3. 



FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


131 


in India. I wonder if you will ever again come to India and see it, 
not in her madness, but wisdom, inspiring every department of life. 
Love to you both. 

Bapu 

Madame Edmond Privat 
1 Avenue de la gare 
Neuchatel, Switzerland 

From a photostat: G. N. 2342 


116. LETTER TO ANASUTA SARABHAI 


New Delhi, 

November 29, 1947 

CHI. ANASUYABEHN^, 

You have asked for a message for the “Majoor Din”^. My 
life is my message. If the workers have assimilated the teaching 
of ahimsa, there should be no division of Hindus and Muslims 
among them and no trace of untouchability among the Hindu 
workers. Why should there be any divisions among workers? If 
the worker wants equality with the owner, he should look upon 
the mill as his own property and protect it. The Ahmedabad work- 
ers have already learnt how to fight injustice. But they have 
many more lessons to learn before they can hope to become part- 
ners with the original owners of the mills. Do they know this? 
Let them remember it and march forward. 

Blessings to all the labourers 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Harijanbandhu, 7-12-1947. Also from a facsimile in Majoor Sandesh, 5-12-1973 


117. ERAGMENT OE A LETTER 

November 29, 1947 

I don’t know how long I shall have to stay here. Perhaps 
I may have to stay here for ever. Every day the situation seems 
to be getting out of control. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^I, p. 389 

* Sister of Ambalal Sarabhai; President, Majoor Mahajan, a union of 
mill workers in Ahmedabad 

^ Labour Day, which was to be observed on December 4 



118. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

November 29, 1947 


BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I told you yesterday that it was a day of momentous im- 
portance for the Sikhs. It should hold the same importance for 
us too. If they have truly started a new life and desire to follow 
the principles laid down by Guru Nanak for all of us, then 
Delhi should not be in the grip of the things that it is in at 
present. 

I have read in the newspapers and also heard otherwise that 
a large number of people in Delhi are given to drinking. We 
already know the things people can do under the influence of 
alcohol. Now I am told that drinking has become a difficult 
problem and has spread over the entire city, so much so that it 
has become extremely difficult to control it. If a new chapter has 
started from yesterday liquor consumption should become even 
less than before. Alcohol can only make us mad. Why then be 
a slave to it? How can I tell you everything? All kinds of things 
are brought to my notice. 

This is one thing. As for the other, I am told that the 
mosques which we had damaged are still in that state, and the 
mosques which were turned into temples are closed since the 
police or the military guards them. But even this hurts me. 
For how can such a thing be allowed if we have opened a new 
chapter from yesterday? The Sikhs could not have converted 
the mosques into temples. The Sikhs are a great community, and, 
if they decide to remain pure from today and do only pure deeds 
I have no doubt that it is bound to inffuence the Hindus. Then 
the Sikhs would become propagators of truth and justice. This 
would become their profession, i. e., to stand for peace and nothing 
but peace everywhere. If this happens, the very face of the 
country would change. Hence, those who have converted the 
mosques into temples should promptly remove the idols from there, 
and restore the mosques. In that event, what need would there 
be for the police or the military guarding those places? When 
all people become good, there need be no police. 

132 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


133 


The third thing is that a large number of our girls have 
been carried away to Pakistan. We do not know where they 
have been taken. I had said yesterday that we should not give 
even a cowrie to get back the abducted girls. Those who have 
committed the crime of abducting our girls should restore them 
to us, and also do penance at the same time. It would not do to 
give any money to claim the girls back. But there is a very alarm- 
ing report. It is reported that in the East Punjab we are ill- 
treating the Muslim girls, whom we have forcibly kept. I just 
cannot understand how we could have stooped so low. I must 
admit that I cannot bear to see this. We should regard those 
girls as our mothers or daughters. Those Muslim girls are like 
my own daughters. How can I indulge in pleasures, be alive and 
eat and drink while somebody ill-treats my daughters? I have a 
feeling that there is some exaggeration in this report. But on 
that ground it should not be disregarded. And, if there is some 
exaggeration it is only for good, because it would then make us 
think how low a man could stoop. This is something which we 
would shudder to think. We have opened a new chapter from 
yesterday, for, if the Sikhs have done so, the Hindus and the 
Muslims have done it too. Let us forget about the Muslims 
as we have made them helpless in the Indian Union. But the 
Hindus and the Sikhs are not helpless. And so, they must 
think what they should do. True, we are not indulging in such 
acts here. But when someone commits a crime anywhere I feel 
I am the culprit. You too should feel the same. If I were 
to commit any crime you should also think that you too were 
guilty of it. Let us all merge in each other like drops of 
ocean. If the drops of ocean remain apart they would dry up. 
But when they mingle together in the ocean they can carry huge 
ships across their expanse. As with the ocean so with us. After all 
we also are an ocean of human beings. If one person commits a 
crime, it amounts to all of us committing it. Then it ceases to be a 
crime. We must all become alert. That is why I talked about these 
things. But now I would like to come to the subject of controls. 

Control on sugar has been removed. I hope and wish that 
controls on cloth and food would also be removed. But how 
would those controls go and what would be our duty after that? 
Since control on sugar has been removed, I would first talk about 
it. Now there are big sugar factories. But the owners of the fac- 
tories should not consider themselves free to squeeze as much 
money from the people as they fancy. If they raise the price of 
sugar, people would be reduced to poverty. Fortunately the entire 



134 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

population of India does not consume sugar. People should con- 
sume gur^ for there is no control on it. The villagers can easily 
make gur in their own homes, but they cannot make sugar. There 
are huge factories in India where millionaires employ workers to 
produce sugar. But gur can be produced wherever sugar-cane 
is grown. Moreover, gur is a very healthy thing to eat if it 
is clean. When I was a child my father used to take me or I 
used to go with his attendants to the villages where sugar-cane 
was grown. People of those villages used to give us fresh and 
clean gur to eat. Gur is a sort of food which sugar can never 
be. So, the poor people should only eat gur. But today, some 
of them have started taking tea and in their tea they put sugar 
rather than gur. I would like to tell them that they should put 
gur in their tea; but would they listen to me? And when the 
price of sugar goes up, they think it would be better to have 
control on sugar so that they could have it cheaper. Under these 
circumstances, it is the supreme duty of the sugar merchants and 
factory-owners to have a mutual arrangement so that the entire 
country knows that with the freedom we have won we would earn 
only clean money. We would not cheat or deceive people and 
would root out all unclean and corrupt practices. If that does 
not happen, I would be blamed because I have worked quite a 
bit for the removal of controls, and am still working for it. If 
the sugar merchants and factory-owners increase their margin of 
profit, the price of sugar is bound to rise. If they take five per 
cent profit, it can be called honest earning. But it cannot be 
called honest earning if they pocket 10 or 20 per cent profit. Five 
per cent is more than sufficient and they should not take more 
than that. And, then, other controls would automatically go. Let 
not the Government get a chance to say that controls were re- 
moved because we wanted them to be removed and ask how the 
poor are now going to survive when they do not get sugar at 
all. That should not be the case. The factory-owners should 
become honest and form a committee to fix a uniform price of 
sugar. No factory-owner should charge more than that price. 
At the same time, the farmers who grow sugar-cane should not 
get less than their due. If the price rises because the cultivators 
are given more, then it becomes a matter of honest earning. They 
should maintain proper accounts and make a public announce- 
ment of what they pay to the farmers now as against what they 
were paid earlier, that the amount goes straight into the pockets 


’ Jaggery 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


135 


of the cultivators and no middleman could swallow it and that 
as against the ten or twenty per cent they used to take, they 
are not taking even five and a quarter per cent now. Supposing 
the factory-owners do not take more than five per cent but if 
the middlemen charge higher prices, consumers of sugar will be 
really doomed. In that case, the factory-owners should sell sugar 
directly to the consumers. I have no doubt that things would 
run smoothly under such an arrangement. 

A gentleman writes to say that the train fares for third- 
class travellers have been increased, though the increase is less 
compared to that of the first and second classes, but he asks, and 
rightly, why the third-class fares had to be raised even by this 
much. Granted that our aims of progress are high and we re- 
quire more funds to achieve them. Then, if need be, we can in- 
crease the levy on tobacco and many other imported as well as 
indigenously produced non-essential items. It may serve our 
purpose to some extent. The men in power in the Government 
ought to consider and examine the feasibility of this proposition. 
But the point certainly needs to be understood, and the Govern- 
ment should also know that I have got people who give such 
useful suggestions. They are not unintelligent people. Rather, 
they are very sensible. If today we have millions of rupees with 
us, it does not mean that we should squander away everything. 
We should spend even small amounts, out of those millions, after 
careful consideration. And it is enough for me if these small 
amounts thus spent benefit the poor villagers of India. Out of 
the crores of rupees drawn from our villages, how much are we 
able to return to them? A true Panchayati Raj or democracy has 
got to draw its resources from the people but, in return, they 
should benefit the people tenfold. For instance, if I take money 
from the people for education, I should give such education to 
their children and have such an estimate of expenditure that they 
should get back their money tenfold. For example, if I start sani- 
tation work in the villages and build roads for the village people, 
they would know that the money they give is being used for 
their own benefit. As a result, we would not be as crazy about 
our military as we are now. Then we would decide to spend as 
little as possible on the army and as much as possible on the 
general public. In such a situation, people themselves become the 
army and start acquiring knowledge of military affairs. When 
they are thus able to defend themselves and their neighbours, the 
defence of India is automatically ensured. As it is no one can 
have designs on India. 



136 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


But right now, even though the British have gone, the atmos- 
phere of the British rule has not yet gone. Let us change that 
atmosphere. The British used to spend extravagantly and the 
people did not get any return from such expenditure. But now the 
people should get back everything they give. Then it would 
be well for the country. This is all I would like to say today. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 138-43 

119. ITS WISE USE 

This letter* is from a correspondent who knows everything 
about this tragedy. I have not the least doubt that this tragedy 
can be turned to good account by the correct behaviour of the 
sufferers, as also that of the people amongst whom their lot is 
cast for the time being. In this consummation, I have no doubt 
that all specially qualified men and women such as doctors, law- 
yers, vaids, hakims, nurses, traders and bankers should make com- 
mon cause with the others and lead a co-ordinated camp life in 
perfect co-operation, feeling not like helpless dependents on 
charity, but resourceful, independent men and women making 
light of their sufferings and looking forward to a life enriched 
by their sufferings, a life full of promise for the future and worthy 
of imitation by the people amongst whom the camp life is lived. 

Then when the professional people have been inured to 
corporate unselfish life and when they can be spared from these 
camps, they would branch out into villages or otherwise, shedding 
the fragrance of their presence wherever they may happen to be. 

New Delhi, November 30, 1947 
Harijan, 7-12-1947 


* The letter is not reproduced here. The correspondent, a refugee be- 
longing to the medical profession, had suggested that “all members of the 
medical and teaching professions” should be absorbed in Government ser- 
vice to help the Provincial Governments “to carry out their rural uplift 
programmes”. 



120. LETTER TO KISHORELAL G. MASHRUWALA 


New Delhi, 

November 30, 1947 

CHI. KISHORELAL, 

I preserved your letters for such a long time. Now I see 
that I cannot cope with the work. So I have to give up the 
idea of writing on certain things. I include in this your views’ 
also. I am forced to discuss Hindustani and the two scripts 
repeatedly. 

I am all right. 

Blessings to both of you 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 10733. Courtesy: Gomatibehn 

Mashruwala 


121. LETTER TO SATLSH D. KALELKAR 

\November 30, 1947Y 

CHI. SATISH^, 

I have your English letter. I know nothing about Valji’s 
letter. I have not read it. Anyway we may not stretch the 
point. Nobody is going to learn anything from it. Such articles 
would seldom appear in Harijan. 

I understand what you say about [your] initials. I did not 
know how the ‘D’ came in. If [the blame] is put on Kaka he 
will not grow small. He is what he is and will always be. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


’ Vide Vol. LXXXIX, p. 257. 

2 The letter is placed in the source among those of this date. 
^ Son of D. B. Kalelkar 


137 



122. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

November 30, 1947 

I can understand the plight of those who have been uprooted 
from their homes. But we have to find a way out of this situa- 
tion. It is truly a boon if one can find happiness in adversity. I 
have not the slightest doubt that, if those who live in groups 
behave properly, everyone’s interest will be served. If the doctors, 
vaidjas, nurses, teachers, traders, jewellers, and people of other pro- 
fessions among the refugees help one another it cannot but have 
pleasing results. Camp life presents its own opportunities. If we 
could only co-operate with one another and regulate our lives 
properly no one would find himself in distress. We could then 
show the world that though we had lost our all, we were still 
fully prepared to face any calamity. 

. . .' I am sure that if only women displayed a little courage and 
freed themselves from narrow religious ideas they could render a 
unique service to the nation. I am convinced that no country 
where women are slaves can ever make any progress. I am 
amazed that while such barbarities are being perpetrated on 
women, men who call themselves brave merely look on. Look at 
the plight of the Punjab. Is that sort of thing enjoined in the 
Shastras? I fear that if we and our leaders do not wake up 
betimes it will be difficult to recover the girls that have been 
carried away to Pakistan. 

After the girls are brought back it is necessary to resettle 
them properly. Girls forcibly abducted are not to be treated as 
defiled. And does defilement only apply to women and not to 
men? How long must I go on writing? What can I write? 
My heart is crying. What can my shedding tears avail? I 
have had long talks with Maulana Saheb hut I have no hopes 
that anything will be achieved. 

You all should take care of yourselves. I am well. Manu 
will write the rest. She is still weak, for in the midst of work 
she does not think of her health. I do, and therefore I keep fit. 

Blessings to all from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — I, pp. 393-4 

* Omission as in the source 


138 



123. LETTER TO RAIHANA TTABJI 


November 30, 1947 

DAUGHTER RAIHANA^, 

I have your letter. There is no need to publish an English 
version. I understand your point. The [publication] will benefit 
neither the Hindus nor the Muslims. If we meet some time and 
I have some leisure we shall have a talk and a good laugh. I shall 
learn the Urdu script better. You are in the midst of it all and 
so you hold one opinion, and since I am at a distance I hold 
a different one.^ We are both right in our respective views. Or we 
might both be in the wrong. We should do all we can. Today 
the situation is very different. It is a matter of life and death. 

To you both, 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


124. LETTER TO MUSLIM CHAMBER OE COMMERCE 

Birla House, New Delhi, 

November 30, 1947 

BHAI SALAJI, 

Why do you write in English ? From your name you appear 
to be a Gujarati. It is possible that you belong to north India. 
Anyway you could have written to me in Urdu, Gujarati, Hindi 
or Bengali. But let this be. 

Now I wish to come to your letter. I feel that if the Govern- 
ment has relations with any other Ghamber of Gommerce there 
is no reason why they should have none with yours. But in my 
opinion after independence and the partition of India there should 
not be any communal associations of trade, etc. I have said some- 
thing in this respect during my speech the day before yesterday.^ 

^ Daughter of Abbas Tyabji; a devotee of Lord Krishna 

2 Vide Vol. LXXXIX, pp. 446-9. 

3 Vide pp. 125-6. 

139 



140 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


I hope you will wind up your Chamber of Commerce. If Bengal 
does not have a unitary Chamber of Commerce, you will help 
in setting up one and work hard towards this end. 

From a copy of the Urdu: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


125. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

November 30, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Yesterday I wanted to mention one point; but since I had 
to talk about many other things, it was left out. You must have 
seen that the girls sit on the floor and they feel cold. I had 
told them that we have plenty of papers and newspapers 
which we have read already and these could be used for sitting 

on. But it is good that a friend has spread a sheet today. 

In a way it is good to be unconcerned. Why should we be so 

delicate that we feel cold by sitting on the floor? Even if we 

have to sit on grass, if we can have a piece of paper and if it 
does not get wet, then we would not feel cold. If this does not 
serve the purpose, then we have our age-old custom of carrying 
our own asanal wherever we go and spreading it whenever we have 
to sit. Today we have forgotten that practice and given our- 
selves to comfortable living. I suggest that we should forget about 
a piece of paper or newspaper, take one if you want and if it 
is thick, but the best thing would be an asana of wool or jute 
or even cloth or hay. All you have to do is to spread it wherever 
you want to sit and tuck it under your arm when you have 
to go. Since I am feeling cold, everybody must be feeling the 
same. Moreover, doctors also say that we should not sit on wet 
ground or where it is cold. If men wearing dhotis and women 
wearing salwars or skirts use thick cloth as undergarments, they 
can serve as asms. But the women too have become very delicate 
and so their clothes must be soft. How can they wear thick 
clothes? Their undergarments have to be soft. Hence, they cannot 
protect them against this cold. 

1 have received many telegrams from Kathiawar. I have 
already told you^ about what I heard and what subsequently 
appeared in the Pakistani newspapers. Those papers are read by 
thousands of people there. May be some ten thousand or so. I do 

* A small mat 

2 Vide pp. 117-9 and 128-9. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


141 


not know how many people must be reading them. But nothing 
would be achieved if I started thinking whether those things had 
really happened. Hence it was good that I placed before you what 
I had read in those newspapers. I do not know if all those things 
are true. If they are true, they are a matter of great shame for 
Kathiawar. And if they are not true, it is a matter of shame for 
the newspapers. Thus it is a matter of shame for either side. 
I have also told you what the Sardar has to comment on 
the matter. He came today also and told me that whatever 
reports came from there were not worth mentioning. They were 
highly exaggerated. 

But the telegram I have received from Rajkot is worth noting. 
It is a fairly long telegram and I would like to mention it 
to you in brief. After all, I know the Muslims of Kathiawar. I do 
not know them individually, but I know the Khojas, Meenas, 
Vaghers and some Kumbis among the peasants, and Mahers. 
After all, I was born there and lived there for almost 17 years. 
In fact I lived there for full 17 years, because I did not 
go out to study anywhere. My father never sent me anywhere. I 
completed my studies there and attended college for a few 
months, and that too at Bhavnagar. Even for the examination I 
could not go beyond Ahmedabad. That was my condition. I 
saw everything that happened there and, later too, kept contact 
with the people by visiting them. So, the sender of that telegram 
says that I am greatly worried on their account, and, in turn, 
my worry has become their worry. He says it is true that some 
Hindus in Kathiawar had lost their balance, but is there any 
place where this has not happened. They resorted to violence 
and even harmed some Muslims. They destroyed their houses 
and even burnt them down. But, he says, the Congressmen did 
not let the situation go far. They were under the leadership 
of Dhebarbhai. I know him very well. He went forward to 
protect the Muslims and succeeded to a great extent. Not all 
Hindus were involved in those acts of loot and arson. Had that 
been the case, all Muslim houses in Rajkot would have been 
set ablaze, there would have been large-scale violence and some 
people would have been killed. But things did not reach that 
point. The Congressmen and others took every precaution. 
Dhebarbhai was abused and manhandled. Even though he is 
a big man and also a lawyer, when the mob gets excited all 
considerations of big and small are forgotten. They harassed 
him because he was trying to protect the Muslims. Some people 
who accompanied Dhebarbhai write, that, though some injury 



142 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


was caused, Dhebarbhai was saved by other people. The tele- 
gram also mentions help from the Thakore Saheb and the 
police. In that case, who are left to be suspected of creating 
the trouble? They say “the Hindu Mahasabha and the 
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — these organizations have certainly 
done some mischief — their aim was to drive out the Muslims 
at least from Rajkot. However they could not do so. But now 
we have nothing more to worry and there is no danger to the 
Muslims. So you also should not worry. We are watching the 
situation elsewhere too and we would send you another telegram.” 

I have received a telegram from a Muslim gentleman from 
the same place. He expresses his extreme gratitude to the 
Congressmen and others who tried their best to save the life and 
property of the Muslims. But there is yet another telegram from 
Bombay also sent by a Muslim gentleman. He states that what 
I had said earlier about Kathiawar was correct but what I have 
been told later about it is not correct. That lots of things have 
happened there and are still happening. 

I do not know whether I should believe the telegram from Bom- 
bay or the one from the other Muslim gentleman. But I doubt the 
truth about the telegram from Bombay because it has been sent 
from Bombay, while the other one has been sent by those who 
are right in Kathiawar. Moreover, the people of Kathiawar can- 
not deceive me. Where would they escape after deceiving me? 
Hence I feel that the telegram from Bombay gives an exaggerated 
version. The actual situation would be known to me in due 
course. For the present, let me at least put all this before you. 

There is also a telegram from Bhavnagar. It is from the 
Maharaja of Bhavnagar. I know him too, because I have lived 
there for three or four months. So he felt concerned about me 
and wondered why I was so much worried. He has said in the 
telegram that I need not worry. He says that they are all vigi- 
lant. The Hindus also are vigilant. They would not let any harm 
come to the Muslims and I should have no doubt at all about it. 

But there is a telegram from Junagadh sent by some Mus- 
lims. They say that I am being deceived, and I should set up a 
commission and inquire whether the Muslims are being harassed 
or not. Similar telegrams have also been sent to Jawaharlal, 
the Sardar and others. I would like to say that it is not possible 
to appoint a commission for anything and everything. Setting up 
a commission is no joke. Where is the need for having a com- 
mission even though some harm might have been done? As for 
Kathiawar, I am like a commission myself. If anything comes to 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


143 


my notice, I can check it. I can handle the Princes as well as 
the people of Kathiawar. I do not claim to succeed in every- 
thing I undertake or that they abide by everything I say. But 
is not Kathiawar the same as Bihar ? If someone wants me to set 
up a commission in Bihar, do you think I would oblige ? I am at 
their disposal myself. People there love me and listen to me. 
And so, it would not be proper to set up any commission there. 

I have also received several letters from the Muslims in Rajkot. 
Many of them are friendly with the Hindus and also happy with 
the Congress. Then, who belongs to the Hindu Mahasabha and 
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh? I can have no enmity to- 
wards them. They think theirs is the only way of saving 
Hinduism. But I believe that Hinduism will not be saved in that 
manner. They believe in violent opposition to those who commit 
an evil act. But I would ask how fighting an evil by another evil 
will help. We have got our own Government. Take it to task and 
demand an explanation as to why such things are happening. 
Moreover, our Government is vigilant and it is trying its best. 
And so I would like to tell the Hindu Mahasabha and also the 
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — both are Hindu organizations 
and many influential and educated people are associated with 
them as in other organizations — that they cannot save Hinduism 
in this manner. Is it true that they have harassed the Muslims? 
If not, who has? The Congress has not harassed them, nor has 
either of the Governments done it. Who then are the other 
Hindus who did it? Today all the Hindus and Sikhs are to 
be blamed for this just as in Pakistan all the Muslims are to be 
blamed, and rightly so. That is why I would suggest that those 
who are innocent and yet are accused, should clear their names. 
The Muslims in Junagadh can get justice if they want. Why 
then should we set up a commission? 

Having talked about the situation there, let me also talk 
about the situation here. The Sardar has made some arrange- 
ments and he is going to protect all the mosques we have here. 
You must have read the notice sent by him in the newspapers 
that the occupied premises of the mosques should be vacated in 
a week’s time, otherwise they will be vacated with the help of the 
police. But I ask you what will he gain by sending the police? 
If some Hindus have installed an idol in some mosque — the idol 
may be of gold or silver or brass or earth or stone — but it is 
said, and I also believe, that so long as it has not been sancti- 
fied and not worshipped by pure hands, in my view it is not an 
idol but a mere piece of stone or gold. Such idols have been 



144 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


installed in the mosque at the corner of Connaught Place. In 
my view, there is no Hanuman in those idols. To me it is a 
mere piece of stone which has been shaped like Hanuman and 
to which some sindoor^ has also been applied. In my view it is not 
worthy of worship. It can be worshipped only if it is legitimately 
installed and sanctified. But all this was not done. Hence it is 
the duty of those who have installed the idols to remove them 
from there at daybreak and then keep them wherever they choose. 
By thus installing idols in the mosques they are desecrating the 
mosques and also insulting the idols. As followers of Hindu- 
ism we are idol-worshippers, but worshipping any idol in this 
manner is not religion but the opposite of it. So, why should the 
Sardar send the police there? Those who are Hindus among you 
should become watchmen and remove the idols so installed. We 
should offer to repair the mosques which have been damaged. 
But the Sardar says that the Government would bear the expenses 
of the repairs of those mosques. Why should the Government do 
it? Is it not because we are not doing it ourselves? The Govern- 
ment has to protect everybody. But it would be a matter of 
shame for us all — Sikhs and Hindus today. Of course I have 
not heard about any Sikh having installed the idols, for the 
Sikhs have only one idol or, say, the holy treatise, that is, the Granth- 
saheb. I have not known of any Sikh having kept the Granthsaheb in 
any mosque. Even if any of them has done so he has insulted 
the Granthsaheb. The Granthsaheb can be kept only in a guru- 
dwara. Only the holy Sikhs keep it on a high pedestal after nicely 
decorating it. Somebody like me would wrap it in a nice khadi 
cloth. But today, even though people do not think in terms of 
swadeshi or foreign things we do manufacture beautiful woollens 
and silks by hand. If we spread such silk cloth and keep the 
Granthsaheb on it, it would be worthy of worship. And if any 
Sikh goes and keeps it in a mosque, he insults the Granthsaheb 
and then it cannot be worthy of worship. 

A Muslim gentleman came to see me today. I could not 
make out what he wanted to say. But he was holding a copy of 
the Koran which was half burnt. Even that was sacred for him 
and so he had wrapped it in a very clean cloth. He opened the 
cloth and showed the burnt Koran to me. He did not say any- 
thing but looked at me with tearful eyes and then went away. 
He talked a few things with Brajkishan, since I was busy with 
my work. Similarly, if any Muslim comes here and instals the 


* Vermilion 



LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI 


145 


Koran here and beats you and me up, I would say that he is in- 
sulting the Koran. The Koran does not ordain that people should 
be compelled to accept it. 

That is why I very respectfully wish to tell the Hindu Maha- 
sabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and others who 
wish to listen to me and also the Sikhs, that the Sikhs are 
great and if they turn good and become true followers of Guru 
Nanak, the Hindus would then automatically become good. I 
have great respect for the Sikhs in my heart but today, every- 
body, whether Hindu or Sikh, is going astray and India is being 
destroyed. Are we going to drag India into dust after raising her 
high? Are we going to destroy our religion, our achievements 
and our country? May God save us from all this. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 144-50 


126. LETTER TO PTARELAD 


December 1, 1947 

I see my battle has to be fought and won in Delhi itself. 
There is a lot for me to do here. . . .The six resolutions^ of the 
All-India Congress Committee this time were practically mine. 
. . . It now remains to be seen how they are implemented. 

Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, pp. 519-20 


127. LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI 

December 1, 1947 

CHI. NARANDAS, 

Read the accompanying wire and let me know how much truth 
it contains. Show it to Dhebarbhai and others. If you know the 
sender let me know who he is. The more information you can 
give the better. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Bapuna Patro-9 : Shri Narandas Gandhine, Part II, p. 319. Also C. W. 
8647. Courtesy: Narandas Gandhi 

' The addressee along with other workers was working in Noakhali to 
establish cordial relations between Hindus and Muslims. 

^ Vide Appendix I. 

90-10 



128. LETTER TO N ARANDAS NALIERWALA 


New Delhi, 

December 1, 1947 

BHAI NARANDAS, 

I don’t understand why all of you have English letter-heads. 
I get your letters from time to time. 

Certainly you shouldn’t believe that those who are called 
‘my people’ are also votaries of the non-violence to which I am 
devoted. 

I have sent the letter to Vaikunthbhai'. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


129. LETTER TO HEMPRABHA DAS GUPTA 

New Delhi, 

December 1, 1947 


CHI. HEMPRABHA, 

I have your letter. Forget Ratilal. If he returns, do not 
have him back. You did what you could. He is of that type. 
He would beg anywhere. 

The condition of Didimoni^ is pitiable. It should not be. I 
would still advise that she should stay at Khadi Pratishthan^ and 
her daughters too should live and be brought up there. I realize 
that it is difficult for her but I cannot think of any other course. 
I am glad that Babua is well. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 1716 


* Vaikunthbhai Lallubhai Mehta 

2 Taralika, addressee’s daughter, who had lost her husband 

3 At Sodepur, established by the addressee’s husband, Satis Chandra Das 
Gupta 

146 



130. NOTE TO LT.-GEN. K. M. CARIAPPA 


December 1, 1947^ 

You know something of my having written in my paper^ about 
your statement on non-violence in London last month. ^ 

When we meet again ... I would like further to discuss 
this subject with you. 

Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, pp. 523-4 


131. SPEECH AT PPATEP MEETING^ 


New Delhi, 

December 1, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Many friends resent my using ‘if’s in my statements. They 
think I should first of all make sure whether something is true 
or not. I feel that whenever I have made a tentative statement 
I have lost nothing thereby. It has only done good to the work 
I then had in hand. 

The talk just now is about Kathiawar. Friends say that I 
gave currency to false allegations of atrocities on the Kathiawar 
Muslims. Most of the allegations were entirely unfounded. 
What little mischief might have occurred had been quickly 
brought under control. But if I have repeated those allegations 
with the conditional ‘if’ no harm has been done to truth. The 

* From Dilhiman Gandhiji — I 

2 Vide Vol. LXXXIX pp. 492-3. 

2 The addressee said that he felt greatly honoured that Gandhiji 
should have taken the trouble to notice at length the views of a person like 
him whom he had never met. He further said: “We soldiers are a very 

much maligned community, . . . the one community which dislikes wars is the 
soldier community. It is . . . because of the knowledge we have of the 
utter futility of wars to settle international disputes. We feel one war merely 
leads to another. History has taught us this. ... In a democratic country 
soldiers do not initiate wars. . . .We merely carry out the orders of the Gov- 
ernment and therefore ... of the people. . . .Why blame us?” 

Gandhiji signalled to him to return the slip of paper he had given him 
and added the following. 

* As Gandhiji was observing silence, his written speech was read out at 
the prayer meeting. 


147 



148 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Congress and the administrators of Kathiawar will gain to the ex- 
tent that they take their stand on truth. Friends assert that though 
truth comes out in the end the harm is already done, for people 
who have no scruples about truth or falsehood dishonestly use my 
statements for their own purposes. I should therefore guard myself 
against untruth being propagated. But whenever people have 
resorted to such tactics they have failed and they were exposed 
as dishonest and false. If I mention the allegations subject to 
‘if’s it should not perturb anyone. The only thing required is 
that those against whom the allegations are levelled should be 
wholly innocent. 

Let us consider the other side of the matter. Take Kathia- 
war again for example. If I had not paid attention to the alle- 
gations contained in some major newspapers of Pakistan which 
even the Prime Minister of Pakistan had declared were true in 
substance, the Muslims would have taken them as gospel truth. 
But now the Muslims have come to doubt their veracity. 

I would like friends in Kathiawar and elsewhere to learn 
from this the lesson that we will not let any trouble occur in our 
own house; we will welcome criticism even if that criticism should 
be bitter; we will become truthful and we will rectify any error 
we discover in ourselves. We must not delude ourselves with the 
belief that we can never make a mistake. Our bitterest critic is 
one who has some grudge, fancied or real, against us. We shall 
correct him if we are patient with him and, whenever the oc- 
casion arises, show him his error, or correct our own when we 
are found to be in error. By doing so we shall never go wrong. No 
doubt a balance must be preserved. Discrimination is always re- 
quired. One must never take notice of statements of a mischie- 
vous nature. I feel that after long experience I have learnt the 
art of discrimination. 

Today the atmosphere is poisoned. Allegations are being 
hurled at each other by parties. To imagine in such a situation 
that we can make no mistakes would be folly. We have not the 
good fortune today to be able to make such a claim. It will be 
enough if with necessary effort we succeed in eradicating the 
mischief and root it out. We can do so only if our eyes and 
ears are open to see and hear about our own shortcomings. 
Nature has so made us that we cannot see our own shortcomings. 
We can see only those of others. Wisdom requires that we should 
benefit from others seeing our shortcomings. 

Yesterday, I was not able to deal fully with the long tele- 
gram from Junagadh, which I had received as I was about to 



LETTER TO BAPSY PAVRY 


149 


leave for the prayer meeting, for I had only cursorily glanced 
through it. Today I have studied it fully. Those who had sent 
the wire state that the allegations to which I had referred the 
other day were founded in truth. If this is so it is very bad for 
Kathiawar. If attempts have been made to exaggerate the allega- 
tions that our workers have admitted as true and which I have 
published, then those behind this wire have done harm to Pakis- 
tan. They invite me to go to Kathiawar and see things for myself. 
They ought to know that today I am not in a position to do that. 
They demand an inquiry commission but before that they must 
prepare their case. I grant that their purpose is not to bring a bad 
name to Junagadh or Kathiawar. They want the truth to be brought 
out and they want security for the life and property and hon- 
our of the minority community. They know, as everyone knows, 
that newspaper propaganda especially when it is not wholly 
based on truth can protect neither life nor property nor honour. 
To protect all these three things those sending the wire should 
adhere to truth and they should go and meet their Hindu friends. 
They know their friends amongst Hindus. They know also that 
though I am at some distance away from Kathiawar I am doing 
their work even from here. I have said this after full delibera- 
tion and now I am collecting all the facts. I have seen Sardar 
Patel. He says that to the extent that it lies within his power no 
communal riot will be permitted and anyone misbehaving with 
our Muslim brothers and sisters will be severely punished. The 
Kathiawar workers, who are quite impartial, are trying to find 
out the truth for themselves and trying to alleviate the sufferings 
of the Kathiawar Muslims. They love Muslims as much as they 
love their own selves. Will the Muslims help them? 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 151-3 

132. LETTER TO BAPST PAVRT'- 


New Delhi, 

December 2, 1947 

DEAR SISTER, 

All that you have told me about Lalkaka^ is interesting. But 
there is nothing for me to write about it. 

’ Daughter of Khurshedji Erachji Pavry, High Priest of Parsis in 
India. She later became Premier Marchioness of Winchester, England. 

2 An artist who painted portraits 



150 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Let me answer your three questions : 

(1) When a portrait of someone has to be painted, the per- 
son should be shown as he is. Therefore, neither I nor anyone 
else can select the colours. 

The ground of Kasturba’s sari always used to be white. 
Occasionally it had lines or dots in colour. The hem and the 
borders used to be coloured. There was no particular choice 
in the colours. 

(2) Whether the pose should be a sitting or standing one is 
for the artist to decide. It should be a pose in which the sub- 
ject was most often seen. 

(3) I have no photograph. The Naoroji sisters can give you 
full information in this respect. Among them, Gosibehn Captain 
will be in a position to give the maximum information. 

I hope the portrait of your father will come out well. 

Blessings from 

M. K. Gandhi 

Miss Bapsy Pavry 
Taj Mahal Hotel 
Bombay 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: C. W. 10227. Courtesy: Bapsy Pavry 


133. LETTER TO GHULAM RASOOL QURESHI 

December 2, 1947 

CHI. QURESHI, 

I appreciate your compassion. But I don’t think we can really 
satisfy our sentiment by having the dogs castrated. We must learn 
the art of keeping dogs. And we should kill stray dogs in the least 
painful manner. I don’t mean to say that it involves no violence, 
but I would claim that this is the least violent method. 

The question of Hindu-Muslim relations has reached a critical 
stage. It is for everybody to see how best it can be tackled. 

Can you say that Amina' is perfectly all right? 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


' Addressee’s wife and daughter of Abdul Kadir Bawazeer 



134. LETTER TO DILKHUSH DIWANJI 

December 2, 1947 

CHI. DILKHUSH, 

I have your letter of the 22nd [ultimo]. 

I received the khadi woven by the weavers out of their own 
hand-spun yarn. My thanks to them. 

Were these friends initially weavers? If they were, please let 
me know what difference they found in the weaving of mill-yarn 
and their own hand-spun yarn. Compared to that of others, 
is their weaving superior or inferior? How many such weavers 
have been trained? How many new weavers as well as spinners 
have been trained? Has there been any improvement in their 

performance? 

I had all the letters from Khar. Bisen had acknowledged 
receipt of them. How is it you did not get his letter? 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


135. LETTER TO JATASHAMKAR PANDTA 

December 2, 1947 

BHAI JAYASHANKAR PANDYA, 

Herewith a wire I received from Junagadh.' Let me know the 
truth about it. Also tell me who the signatories are. Please also 
write to me what Bhai Moosa who had come with you has to 
say. I have with me two varying reports; I am therefore rather 
confused. 

Jayashankar Pandya 

Head of the Junagadh State Railway 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* Vide pp. 148-9. 


151 



136. LETTER TO JAMNA GANDHI 


December 2, 1947 

CHI. JAMNA 

Your letter. I am keeping well. I have heaps of work. Kanu^ 
can come over whenever he wishes; so also Abha^. I do not 
have to order them. Don’t worry at all. One should give up 
one’s desire to be looked after and served by one’s children after 
having given them away for social service. 

Why does the asthma persist? Won’t it go? 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


137. LETTER TO SATTEN 


December 2, 1947 

CHI. SATYEN, 

How did you bring up [the matter] of Manohar Diwan'*? 
It is quite right that the work you are doing at Nalwadi 
will be under the supervision of Vinoba, but if any such venture 
is to be undertaken at Sevagram you should have permission from 
Aryanayakum and Ashadevi. It would therefore be better to 
give up the idea. 

It will serve no purpose for a Harijan to call himself a 
Brahmin but quite a lot is accomplished by a Brahmin becoming 
a Bhangi. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* Wife of Narandas Gandhi 

Addressee’s son and daughter-in-law 
Who was running the Kushtha Ashram, an institution for leprosy pa- 
tients, at Dattapur 

152 



138. LETTER TO RAIHANA TTABJI 


New Delhi, 

December 2, 1947 

DAUGHTER RAIHANA, 

I have your long letter. How can I argue with you? You 
must have received my last letter.* 

I shall follow your suggestion when I am convinced. In the 
meanwhile let us bear with our differences. 

Did you consult Nanavati regarding Urdu script? He has 
done quite a lot in this connection. 

The social question has significance in its own place. The 
people of Europe who inter-dine have fought with one another. 
Muslims fought with Muslims at Karbala^; and what about the 
friction between the Shias and the Sunnis? 

We cannot promote unity by retaining only the Urdu script. 
We have to have reforms in all directions. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


139. TALK WITH MUSLIMS^ 


Panipat, 

December 2, 1947 

You want to go to Pakistan of your own free will, don’t 
you? When your leaders came to me and pleaded that I should 
visit Panipat, they told me that people were leaving for Pakis- 
tan against their will. But now from what you say I gather 
that you yourselves want to go to Pakistan. All the same I must 
tell you that this is your home. You should stay here. Your 
safety is the responsibility of Dr. Gopichand Bhargava — your 

1 Vide p. 139. 

2 The scene of battle in Iraq where Imam Hussain, the Shia leader 
and his followers were killed by the Sunnis in 680 A. D. 

^ Gandhiji reached Panipat at about 11.30 a.m. and met the Muslim 
refugees who desired to go to Pakistan. 


153 



154 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Chief Minister — and he will fulfil that responsibility. Neverthe- 
less all men have to die one day. There are 28,000 refugees here. 
If all of you are cut down to the last man at the hands of your 
brethren, you will have shown true bravery. It will have brought 
glory to your religion. You should say, ‘Remove the military from 
here. The Hindus will protect us.’ I am sure if you show such 
trust the Hindus will certainly protect you. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 6 

140. TALK WITH MUSLIM DELEGATION^ 


Panipat, 
December 2, 1947 

So far I have been patiently listening. I have not said a 
word. But now the discussion is becoming heated and at last I 
have been invited to offer advice. I must then tell you that if 
you have the courage to die at the hands of the refugees or the 
Hindus, should they want to kill you, you will have rendered a 
great service to Islam. 

What happens in Pakistan is a matter for God to see. But I 
shall never advise you to go away from here. If, of course, you want 
to go of your own will, no one can stop you. But you will never 
hear Gandhi utter the words that you should leave India. Gandhi 
can only tell you that you should stay, for India is your home. 
And if your brethren should kill you, you should bravely meet 
death. That is the way I am made. That is the way I would 
have people behave. 

In Pakistan many Hindu girls have been forcibly converted 
and subjected to extreme barbarities. Hindus too have done 
similar things. But I am telling you how you should behave 
like true Muslims. You should seek help from the Pakistan Gov- 
ernment and persuade your brethren there to console the young 
women who have been abducted. You should tell them : ‘Sisters, 
you have been cruelly treated. We forgot that we were human. 
From now on you are our mothers, our sisters, our daughters.’ 
If you work in this spirit you can make Pakistan really pak — 
really pure. Of the three things — human dignity, life and pro- 
perty — you should make it your business to safeguard one and 

' Dr. Gopichand Bhargava, Swaran Singh, Hifzur Rehman, Deshbandhu 
Gupta and the Deputy Commissioner were also present. 



TALK WITH MUSLIM DELEGATION 


155 


devote yourselves wholly to service. Then, I assure you, Hindus 
will worship you and you will be able to serve not only Pakistan 
but also the Muslims living in India. Geographically you are sep- 
arated but no one in the world can separate the hearts. Where 
can you run away from friends and relatives ? Someone among 
you said that Gurubachan Singh had behaved treacherously. I 
tell you that if a man himself is honest it can do him no harm 
if the other party is treacherous. I say this from personal experi- 
ence. I am not preaching like a Ghristian. Deception and lies can 
never succeed. Otherwise truth would be at a discount in the 
world; anyone could get away with lies. 

The Ministers have assured you that they will protect you 
even at the risk of their own lives. Still if you are resolved to go 
and do not place any trust in their word there is nothing further 
I can say to you. What can I do to reassure you? If I should 
die tomorrow you would again have to flee. Therefore you 
cannot go by what others say. You have to decide for your- 
selves after considering what your duty is towards the country, 
towards your brothers, towards the land that gave you birth, 
where you grew up. This will not be because Gandhi says 
it. There was a time when I wished to live a hundred and 
twenty-five years. Today I do not have that wish any more. I 
do not consider our present freedom as freedom. I consider it as 
the undoing of the country. You are destroying the independence 
that we have gained without shedding a drop of blood. You are 
cutting off your own feet. Today Punja Saheb cannot be visited 
by any Sikh pilgrim. What a sorry pass we have come to after 
we became free. If even now you take up the work of service 
without asking where and by whom the present tide of violence 
was started, you can still taste the nectar of freedom. Where are 
all the proclamations of Jinnah ? The more I dwell on these mat- 
ters the more unhappy I become. I do not believe in shedding 
tears. But today, having heard you and seen you, my heart weeps. 

Do as God guides you. I have said what I had to say. I can 
only pray to God to grant us good sense. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 8-10 



141. SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING^ 


Panipat, 

December 2, 1947 

Gandhiji told a mass meeting mostly of refugees from West Punjab that 
he was not very happy on his second visit to Panipat. During his last visit^ 
he was assured by the non-Muslims of the locality that they would not let 
the Muslims go from Panipat. He was hurt to hear from Mr. Gopalaswami 
Ayyangar^ that arrangements were now complete for sending the Muslims 
to Pakistan. He hoped that he would hear about the Hindus persuading 
the Muslims not to go to Pakistan. Why did the Muslims of Panipat, who 
were previously not eager to go to Pakistan, now want to leave? 

All the Muslims in the camp here want to go. I told them 
that they would get all the protection here. But one should 
depend on God’s protection rather than on the protection of the 
army and the police. Supposing you are eating and death comes 
while food is in your mouth, no army or police, no doctors or 
drugs, will be of any use. If we could only stop to think how 
God holds in his own hand the string of death, the prevailing 
conflict between trust and distrust would end. If my brother has 
become mad and wants to kill me, does it mean that I should 
also go mad? To return evil for evil makes for the fall of both 
parties. No one can be forced to accept another’s faith. 

Referring to conversions, Gandhiji said that there had been conversions 
of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. To repeat the same here to Muslims 
would be denial of civilization and did not speak of humanity. By these con- 
versions people neither enriched their religion nor themselves. By such acts 
people degraded themselves and their country for which they had made 
much sacrifice. 

No one had imagined that the freedom that came would be 
such a terrible thing. But that was the will of God. If we can 

^ The Gujarati version in Dilhiman Gandhiji has been collated with the 
report in The Hindustan Times. 

^ On November 10 

^ (1882-1953); Prime Minister of Kashmir, 1937-43; Minister without 
Portfolio, Government of India, 1947-48; Leader of Indian Delegation to 
United Nations Security Council; Union Minister of Railways and Transport, 
and later of Defence 


156 



SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING 


157 


pass the present test we shall have risen very high. Sjhariar asks, 
if India fails what will become of his country? The whole of 
Asia today has its eyes fixed on us. God has given us a jewel in 
the person of Jawaharlal. The whole world likes him. We have a 
leader such as the Sardar. The two make an inseparable pair. 
Neither can do without the other. India has a name in the world 
because of Jawaharlal. Who otherwise would care about India? 
But Pandit Nehru will not be able to do his job without your 
co-operation. Let us not allow India’s name to fall into disrepute. 

To the refugees from West Punjab, Gandhiji said that he knew that 
they had encountered untold sufferings. It might also be a fact that the 
Muslims staying here might be having some property and enjoying themselves 
a bit. But, just because they had suffered, they should not deprive the Muslims 
of their property. He would not believe that all refugees were bad people. 

There are 28,000 refugees in this camp. Not all of them can 
be good. If there are goonda elements among them you should 
pick them out and make of them good men by your love. They 
are all brothers here, so what need is there for the military? If 
there are two brothers in a family does it need any police force 
to guard them? Your salvation lies in learning to protect one 
another. You should go to your Muslim brothers and sisters and 
plead with them not to leave India. If you do not cast covetous 
eyes on their homes, I am sure Hinduism will live for ever. We 
must forget what has happened. In this alone lies our good. You 
may listen to an experienced old man if you care, for today my 
voice is a voice in the wilderness. However I must say what I 
consider my duty to say. Today I do not have the wish or the 
zest to go on living. Time was when I wanted to live 125 years 
and bring about Ramarajya. But if I do not have your co-operation 
what can I do all by myself ? 

It was said, Gandhiji continued, that the Muslims had arms in their 
possession. There might be arms with the Hindus and Sikhs too. He said 
that all arms, whether they be with Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims, should be 
licensed. 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 10-2, and The Hindustan Times, 3-12-1947 



142. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 2, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I had told you I should be going to Panipat today. I had 
intended to be back by four o’clock. But there was so much 
work that I could not come before thirty-five minutes — at any rate 
thirty-three minutes past five. Then I heard the prayer. I 
have said that the prayer should begin whether I am present or 
not and we must be regular. Then I went and washed myself. 
Hence the delay, for which I apologize. 

I had already hinted at the purpose of my visit to Panipat. 
I had been hoping and I continue to hope even now that by 
some means or other the Muslims of Panipat should be stopped 
from going [to Pakistan]. It will be good for us, good for the 
whole of India and because it will be good for India it will be 
good for Pakistan as well. 

There are people living in distress there — the refugees who 
have come from Pakistan — and they must continue to live in 
distress as long as they do not return to their homes. Similarly 
the Muslims who have been forced to flee to Pakistan will be 
unhappy there. You should have no doubt about it. 

It was good that I went there. It was my duty to do so. 
Dr. Gopichand Bhargava had come and so had Sardar Swaran 
Singh, the Home Minister. I had no idea that Dr. Gopichand 
was coming. Sardar Swaran Singh had of course sent word that 
if he should be needed he would come. I said there would be no 
need for him to come because whatever had to be done would 
have to be done by me. Nevertheless he came. East Punjab is 
after all his region and it was his right to come. Deshbandhu 
Gupta had sent a message that he was ailing and so would not 
be able to come. I had agreed, but since he belongs there he did 
come. It was good that all of them came. Then there was the 
Maulana whom we often see here. I then spoke to people. I 
spoke to the Muslims separately, though the two Ministers were 
present.' They thought that the Ministers should be there, for 

’ Vide pp. 154-5. 


158 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


159 


what was the good of my saying something which the Ministers 
would not know about and which I would not be able to en- 
force? The Muslims admitted that they had agreed in talks earlier 
not to go but that later the situation had worsened; that nothing 
had been done on the lines I had assured and they had felt 
harassed; their honour was not protected. When they could not 
protect their lives, their property and their honour, how could 
they stay ? They said they would put up with the destruction of 
their houses, they would put up with arson, they would put up 
even with loss of lives but they would protect their honour to the 
last. If they could do that they would stay. I said that he who 
loves mankind loves God. He has nothing to fear. 

I then spoke to the refugees there.* By the time I was done 
it was half past three. I had set out from here at 10.30 and 
reached there at about 11.30. My talks with the Muslims con- 
tinued up to 3; there was so much to talk about. Then I spoke to 
the refugees. After me Dr. Gopichand Bhargava addressed them. 
But when Sardar Swaran Singh got up to speak there was 
pandemonium. People started shouting; not because they wanted 
to insult him but they could not contain themselves. They be- 
came angry that he dared to speak at all. 

It was a large crowd. There must have been some twenty 
thousand people. The ground was filled to capacity. Roofs were 
covered with people. They heard me in silence. But when the 
others began, people stood up. It has become customary with 
us to give vent to anger. They stood up and began to shout that 
the Muslims should be expelled. I told them that it would not be 
good to drive out the Muslims. They had their homes, and 
they should not be forced to leave; that forcing the Muslims to 
leave would undo all our efforts there. I was ready to resume 
my seat but Sardar Swaran Singh, being the Home Minister 
and also a brave man, would not be cowed down, he said this 
would not do. He tried to speak but nothing came of it. People 
continued their shouting and continued to stand. Then their 
representative, their leader came forward. He began with a 
bhajan in Punjabi. I had not known that he was a poet. He 
knew that Punjabis like bhajans. Then he admonished them in 
Punjabi and told them that he was their representative and 
they must listen to him, that shouting would achieve nothing. 
What would they gain by disturbing the meeting. It would only 
harm them. Peace was restored at last but it took some doing. 
People sat down and the proceedings were continued in Punjabi. 

* Vide pp. 156-7. 



160 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


I cannot speak Punjabi but I understand it. I liked what 
[Sardar Swaran Singh] said. When we were with the Muslim leaders 
he had assured them that whatever might happen in Pakistan we 
would not become inhuman. He said that ours was a democratic 
Government and would not let such things happen here. If any 
Muslim girl had been kidnapped she would be restored by every 
means. Help would certainly be needed for they would not 
know where an abducted girl was. But if it was known she 
would be brought back. The other thing they would do was about 
the Muslims who had been converted to Hinduism or Sikhism. 
They were still Muslims. Such conversion would not be accepted 
as lawful, for it was against morality. Similarly the Muslims who 
were still here would be protected whether or not Pakistan 
protected [the Hindus and Sikhs]. Thirdly, Sardar Swaran Singh 
said that the mosques would be protected. Of course, protection 
of life and property was a difficult matter. There was the 
police, the Government — they would do what they could, but if 
everyone took to plunder and pillage they could not be shot 
down. The Government was helpless. Our freedom was crippled 
and we had to confess our helplessness. They could certainly plead 
with people but they had to admit their helplessness. He was 
very persuasive. He pleaded with them saying that India’s honour 
and dignity were in their hands, that the Government was theirs, 
for it was they who had elected the Ministers. And since the 
Government was there it would do its duty, do what it must 
and they must help. He explained all this. It took a long time. 
In the end there was peace at the meeting. Every time it 
happens that when people lose their temper on such occasions, 
they begin to understand things after a time when they calmly 
think over it. I saw this during the course of our struggle for 
freedom. There were many occasions when it looked as if the 
meeting would have to be terminated, but in the end they saw 
the point. Afterwards the representatives of the refugees came 
and followed me. I asked them to accompany me in the car. If 
I was not to do so, I would have been further delayed. I had 
to count every minute, for I wanted to reach here in time. I 
have forgone my siesta. When everyone is unhappy, how can I 
seek rest ? I am certainly much more comfortable than they are. 
They tell me that the refugees there are in much distress. Of 
course something has been done. Things are certainly much 
better than I had seen them last. Some arrangements have 
been made. Some roofs have been put up. They certainly have 
tents to live in, but the food is not all that it should be. The 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


161 


Governor of East Punjab' also saw it and admitted that it should 
be improved. As to clothing it seems all the decent clothing is 
taken away by some people. What shall I say as to who does it? 
The result is that the refugees get only rags. This should not 
be so. They must get the things that are intended for them. 
People die too, which is only natural. Two persons had died; 
there was no firewood to cremate them. A whole day was lost. 
I forget the name of the doctor in charge. He was not to be 
found anywhere. By then it was seven in the evening. Since 
no arrangement could be made for firewood, some people ap- 
proached a relative of one of them and offered to raise a contri- 
bution often to fifteen rupees. But the relative who was a strong 
man refused to accept the donation. He said that if there was no 
firewood he would bury the dead. Burial is not common among 
the Hindus and I was sorry that he had to do it. 

I learnt afterwards that well-to-do refugees are able to get 
things but not the poor ones because the arrangements are not in 
the hands of senior officers. The workers were taken from among 
the people there and everything is done through them. If they 
are good, altruistic and dedicated to service things go well. But 
if they do not have the spirit of service it becomes difficult. I 
like to have everything in the open. Let us not resort to physical 
violence. It generates poison. We have an alternative method and 
that is to speak up frankly. It does not do to hide things. One 
must call a spade a spade. What is lost by accusing those who 
indulge in evil practices? If they are guilty the charge should 
be made. That is why I tell you that it is a bad practice. We 
are already unhappy. Hundreds of thousands of people have 
been uprooted from their homes and have come here. If we 
indulge in such practices it would be very bad. Today a small 
boy confronted me. He was wearing a sweater. He took it off and 
stood glaring at me as if he would eat me up. He was just a 
child. What could he do? “You say that you have come to pro- 
tect us,” he said, “but my father has been killed. Get me my 
father back.” But his father was dead. How could I bring him 
back. The boy became angry. I can imagine that if I had been 
of his age and in his position perhaps, I would have done the 
same. I was not annoyed. I felt sorry for him. 

We see such scenes today. The refugees say that all of them 
at any rate are not bad ; that the management should be entrusted 
to some of them, for after all magistrates and others were there to 


* C. L. Trivedi 


90-11 



162 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


supervise. Other people too had to be supervised. At least the 
distribution of blankets should be entrusted to them. Their child- 
ren should get milk but the milk does not reach them. The 
staff appropriates it. Would it not be better to give them the 
milk for distribution rather than that the members of the com- 
mittee should drink it up? Then some of them have been receiving 
letters from other refugees elsewhere. They ask them in the 
letters to tell the Mahatma to attend to them too. It is good I 
went there. I told them to be peaceful and to persuade the 
Muslims to stay on. I told them that it would be something 
unique for Panipat which has been the scene of so many battles. 

There are 28,000 refugees living in the camp. I told them, 
“If more refugees join you what can it matter to you? It is 
enough for you if you get food to eat, clothes to wear and a roof 
or even a tent to live under. You can get nothing more than 
this wherever you may go. You can create many things out of 
these three things. You should know what developments are 
taking place all over India, what problems are coming up and 
how we can solve them. The Government is there, but the 
Government cannot force you to do anything.” 

Yesterday Jawaharlal said a beautiful thing. I happened to 
see it in the papers today; it is rarely that I get a chance to read 
anything. Jawahar says that he does not like being called 
Prime Minister. When did he ever become Prime Minister? 
He would like it and it would be more appropriate to call him 
the first servant of the nation. If everyone became the first 
servant he would have to think of others all the twenty-four 
hours of the day. If the officers under Jawaharlal were to 
think so, our country would become a land of gold. We would 
have Ramarajya, the kingdom of God upon earth. Then our 
freedom would be complete. If after attaining freedom we 
continue to conduct ourselves in the manner we are doing 
now then that freedom will irk me. Is this the kind of freedom 
we are going to have? No, it cannot be. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 154-9 



143. LETTER TO CHAMPA MEHTA 

December 3, 1947 

CHI. CHAMPA, 

I have your letter. It will not help me in any way to call 
you here. I still do not feel confident about you. The final 
decision lies with Chimanlal and others. You can stay on only 
if you win their confidence. But how can you stay on if you 
yourself have no faith in them? They have no axe to grind. 
They assumed the responsibility of letting you stay there for my 
sake. Be calm now and do what seems proper to you. Don’t 
hurt their feelings. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: M.M.U./XX 


144. LETTER TO SHAMALDAS GANDHI 

New Delhi, 

December 3, 1947 

CHI. SHAMALDAS, 

Herewith a copy of a wire from Junagadh. If the contents 
of the wire are true, I would say you are out of your senses. If 
they are absolute lies you have nothing to lose. I get a fairly 
large number of letters against you from Hindus. They say that 
you cannot talk of anything but the sword. The problem of 
Kathiawar is not as simple as you all might be thinking. Even 
after you have eliminated the Princes, so long as you do not have 
a humble and selfless leadership no good will come to Kathiawar. 
We might have found it easy to win swaraj but preserving and 
making it worth while has become difficult. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


163 



145. LETTER TO LILAVATI ASAR 

December 3, 1947 

CHI. LILI, 

I have your two letters. In one you say that Dwarkadas has 
completely recovered, and Damayanti also is all right. In the 
other letter you say that another operation may be necessary. 
I do hope you will get a room somewhere. 

Herewith a note for Rs. 100.’ Can you not manage to bor- 
row Rs. 100 from some source? I hesitate to send even a draft. 
If there is no facility at the hospital for encashing it, how far 
will you have to go for it? 

You should put in regular hard work and clear your final 
examination. That will be the end of a struggle. Really speak- 
ing once we have made up our minds to do a thing, then there 
is no more struggle, it is all play. 

I got the liquorice tablets. You wasted your time over it. 
But now I shall use the same mostly and cloves very rarely. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


146. LETTER TO BACHCHHARAJ & CO. 

New Delhi, 

December 3, 1947 

TO 

Bachchharaj & Co. 

Pay Rs. 100 (Rupees one hundred only) to Lilavati Udeshi 
who is studying medicine and debit it to my public account. 

M. K. Gandhi 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


’ Vide the following item. 


164 



147. TALK WITH LT.-GEN. K. M. CARIAPPA^ 


New Delhi, 

December 3, 1947 

Gandhiji turned to him and said smilingly: 

I see you have again removed your shoes outside. You had 
done it when you came two days ago also.^ 

The General replied: “It is but proper that I should do so when com- 
ing to see a godly man like you.” 

I have been receiving numerous complaints concerning the 
police and the army personnel. They take bribes and are biased in 
favour of their own community. If the seed itself is rotten what will 
become of the plants and the foliage? Not even thorns will then 
grow. The army and the police are potent limbs of the country. 
It is a pity that following the partitioning of the country the army 
also had to be partitioned on communal lines. But it is the duty 
of policemen not to show caste and communal bias. They must 
bravely serve the country. It is the duty of every armed force 
to protect the minority community. Pakistan will not heed my 
word, but if you the Generals of the army of the Indian Union 
listen to me and help me, I shall believe we have truly gained 
freedom in a non-violent way. Let us make ourselves worthy of 
such freedom. In the swaraj gained in such a wonderful way, 
the personnel of the army and the police must always remain 
pure and above board. 

What a wonderful example of this unity is set by Netaji, the 
founder of the Indian National Army; “Let every Hindu, Muslim, 
Christian, Parsi and others think that India is their country and 
work unitedly for it.” He has proved this unity before us all. 

q. Pakistan has no use for non-violence. How then can we win their 
hearts and prove the efficacy of ahimsa? 

Violence can only be overcome through non-violence. This 
is as clear to me as the proposition that two and two make four. 
But for this one must have faith. Even a weapon like atom 

* The version in Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase has been collated 
with the Gujarati in Dilhiman Gandhiji. 

^ Vide “Note to Lt.-Gen. K. M. Cariappa”, p. 147. 


165 



166 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


bomb when used against non-violence will prove ineflfective. This 
applies to true non-violence. But very few people have grasped 
this eternal truth. Faith by itself also will not do. It must be 
supplemented by knowledge. Training in ahimsa is not to be had 
like training in the use of weapons in military training colleges 
and institutions. It requires purity of heart and soul-force. The 
difficulty we find in pitting non-violence against violence only 
shows our inner weakness. A short time ago, even Mr. Jinnah 
had clearly stated that in political disputes violence must be 
eschewed.* If Mr. Jinnah meant what he said then the violence 
that today engulfs us can be brought to an end in no time. And 
if Pakistan does not stop violence, the violent killings can still be 
stopped if Hindus in the Union have faith in non-violence. A 
votary of non-violence will not allow the slightest hint of violence 
to enter his heart. How then can his conduct be violent? 

The General said: “. . . If we have to have an army at all ... it must 
be a good one. ... I would . . . like to remind them in my own way of 
the need for and the value of non-violence. Tell me, please, how I can put 
this over, i. e., the spirit of non-violence to the troops . . . without endan- 
gering their sense of duty to train themselves well professionally as sol- 
diers. I am a child in this matter. I want your guidance.” 

Gandhiji laughed. He was still at his charkha. He paused, looked at 
the General and said: 

Yes. . . . you are all children; I am a child too, but I happen 
to be a bigger child than you because I have given more thought 
to this question than you all have. You have asked me to tell 
you in a tangible and concrete form how you can put over to the 
troops you command the need for non-violence. 

I am still groping in the dark for the answer. I will find it 
and I will give it to you some day. 

He then went on to recount how even Lord Wavell and Lord Mount- 
batten, both veteran professional soldiers, had expressed their implicit faith in 
the value of non-violence. 

Lord Wavell was very impressed with the non-violent way in which 
the communal troubles between Hindus and Muslims had been tackled by 
us. They both hoped that our ideologies of non-violence and pacifism would 
be understood by the peoples of the world and practised by all in solving 
international disputes. 

Of course, they had at the same time said that one should always be 
prepared for self-defence. At parting Gandhiji repeated: 


Vide Vol. LXXXVII, p. 261. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


167 


I will think about this seriously in the next few days and 
will let you know about it soon. However, I would like to see 
you more often so that we may further discuss this important 
subject. ... I have always had the greatest admiration for the 
discipline in the army and also for the importance you army 
people pay to sanitation and hygiene. I tell my people in my 
talks to them to copy the army in these respects. 

Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, pp. 524-5, and Dilhiman Gan- 
dhiji — ^II, pp. 13-5 


148. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 3, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I receive many visitors. I do not relate to you everything 
they say. I do let you know if something is important enough. 
Today I had some visitors. It appeared they had had some busi- 
ness with the Prime Minister. They said the Prime Minister had 
earlier made a certain promise to them and that he was now go- 
ing back on the promise. How was that, I asked. They said they 
had his letter. I asked them to show me the letter. After all I 
had no more power than they. I was not the Government. Yes, 

I was a servant, a friend of the Prime Minister, a co-worker, and 
so I would speak to him. But how was I to mention it to him? 
Then I reflected on the matter and I asked myself why this sort 
of thing happened, — people saying one thing and doing another. 
I have to bear the brunt of all this. I am sure that I have never 
deliberately deceived anyone. It is possible that, without under- 
standing the implications, one may say something in all good faith 
without any dishonest motives. And yet a person may feel ag- 
grieved thinking that he has been deceived. Often things are not 
fully understood and the result is breach of faith. But if a person 
deliberately breaks a promise it is a bad thing. This should not 
happen. The best thing is to keep quiet. Once we have put into 
words what we feel, we must act accordingly. Only then can we 
be said to be keeping our word. And now especially when we 
are free and run the Government in the name of the millions we 
must be very careful. We must show restraint, discretion and 
humility. We must not be arrogant. Only then can we take our 
work to a successful conclusion. No one then will be able to 



168 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


charge us with breach of faith. If we say that we shall distri- 
bute a certain thing free of cost and later say that we shall charge 
something even a little for it, then it is breach of faith. Today 
we have come to such a state that we do not value our word. 
We make a promise today and wriggle out of it the very next day. 
If I make an appointment with you for 4 o’clock tomorrow but 
at the appointed time go off to a dance, it is breach of faith. So 
I say that we have to be very careful. We must stick to our word, 
we must weigh our words before we utter them. We must not 
say anything on impulse. For instance we may say that there was 
rioting and later colour it and say that there was murder. This 
sort of thing cannot be hidden for long. The truth comes out in 
the end. So we must be careful. 

A doctor from Sind has written to say that the Harijans 
left behind there are in a pitiable condition.' If only Harijans 
were left behind in Sind and caste Hindus went away, nothing 
but annihilation awaited them. The only condition for life 
there would be complete slavery and ultimate acceptance of Islam. 
This is a bad situation. Today the situation is such that if 
the Pakistan Government says something, the officials at its 
behest do not implement it. Of course the same thing is true 
of India. Jawaharlal and the Sardar say that they shall protect 
Muslims, they shall not allow even a single Muslim to be driven 
away to Pakistan, but it does not happen. They do not have 
people to enforce what they say. Their subordinates do not carry 
out their wishes and the people too do not pay any heed. Yester- 
day I told you that I had been to Panipat. All the Hindus and 
Sikhs who have arrived there are in a miserable plight. They 
were ill-treated in Pakistan and they had to flee. They came because 
they were oppressed. Otherwise what was the need for them 
to run away? Having themselves run away from oppression, 
does it behove them to force others into a similar situation? 
But this happens. How then can I complain to Pakistan? But I 
have to do so. The correspondent has written in detail. He says 
no Harijan wants to continue living in Sind. If they want to 
stay together at one place they are not left in peace. Forced labour 
is extracted from them. They are told to clean lavatories, do the 
sweeping and so on. A Bhangi should not be forced to clean 
lavatories today. If he can become a barrister, why should he be 
stopped? Why should we insist that his only work is to clean 

’ According to a telegram sent by Choithram Gidwani to B. R. Ambed- 
kar, Harijans in Sind and Baluchistan were being prevented from migrating 
to India under the Essential Services Ordinance. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


169 


lavatories? They must be free to act according to their inclination. 
If they are told that they can stay only if they embrace Islam, 
what can they do and where can they go? You will have seen 
the long statement Jagjivan Ram* has issued. He says that 
Harijans must come away from Sind. If they want to come 
they should be given facilities to do so. So long as they are in 
Pakistan they must be allowed to go about their business un- 
hampered; otherwise they should be allowed to leave. If this is 
not done it is going to leave a permanent sore spot on the Hindu 
and the Sikh minds. Although India and Pakistan are two coun- 
tries, we cannot forget one another. We have to conduct our- 
selves as gentlemen. We must not hurt anyone. We must not 
force anyone to become a Muslim. We must not molest and abduct 
anyone’s wife or daughter. Dr. Gopichand Bhargava and Sardar 
Swaran Singh also said yesterday that India could not tolerate 
such things. Today the atmosphere has become so polluted that 
if a Muslim says that he has embraced Hinduism this should not 
be accepted as genuine. Harijans are non-Muslims. If they say 
that they have embraced Islam it is not to be accepted. It is only 
fear that makes them say so. All such conversions should be 
considered null and void. 

Contradictory reports are coming from Kathiawar. Some 
reports say that the situation in Kathiawar is as bad as described. 
A telegram to that effect has come only today. Other reports 
are from the Congress sources and these say that such is not 
the case, that the Congress workers can never indulge in such 
things. The Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak 
Sangh say that they have never burnt anybody’s house. Which 
reports am I to accept as true? Shall I believe the Congress, 
or the Muslims, or the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya 
Swayamsevak Sangh ? It has become very difficult to get at the 
truth. If mistakes have been committed we must acknowledge 
them. If the Hindus have been in the wrong, if they have committed 
excesses, it must be admitted. But if this is not the case and if 
the Muslims exaggerate when they say that their properties were 
burnt, they were forced to become Hindus, that their daughters 
were abducted, we must proclaim it to the world that that was 
not the case. Similarly if the Hindu Mahasabha and the R. S. S. 
have not done anything wrong I must congratulate them. What 
the truth is I do not know, though I am trying to find out. I 

* (b. 1908); President, All India Depressed Classes’ League, 1936-46; 
Labour Minister in the Interim Government; later held important portfolios 
like Railways, Food and Agriculture and Defence in the Government of India 



170 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


have written to people' I know there. I have also written to Mus- 
lims. I have asked them to give me all the details so that I may 
be able to see what shapes things are taking there and what the 
upshot is going to be. 

Now about South Africa. You will have seen what Vijaya- 
lakshmi Pandit has said. She says we have been defeated be- 
cause we have not been able to secure the required two-thirds of 
votes.^ However, a number of people have been helpful and sup- 
ported her stand. Besides, truth is on our side and in a way 
we have secured a victory.^ The Indians in South Africa should 
therefore not be disheartened. But there is something I have to 
say. Vijayalakshmi could not have said it because she represented 
the Government of India. You do not have a remedy but I have one 
which I had applied in South Africa. What is defeat or victory? 
The whites of South Africa and Smuts'* may say that they do not 
want us there, that we must leave. They may deny us food and 
water as is happening to non-Muslims in Pakistan and to Muslims 
in India. They have driven away Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan 
under threats. There are still a large number of Hindus and Sikhs 
in Bannu. What will happen to them I do not know. Mehar- 
chand Khanna^ has been to see me today. He says that in other 
places too there are people whose lives may or may not be saved. 
If they survive they will have to embrace Islam. But at Bannu 
the number is very large. What should they do ? They are like pri- 
soners. They cannot get out and if they stay on what are they 
to eat? They are in a sad plight. What can the Government do? 
It has its own problems. What I have to say here applies also 
to the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in South Africa. I must tell 
them that victory and defeat are of no consequence. ‘You must 

' Vide pp. 151 and 163. 

^ The Indian Resolution calling for a Round Table Conference on the 
treatment of Indians in South Africa failed to obtain the requisite two-third 
majority in the United Nations General Assembly, 31 having voted in favour, 
19 against, with 6 abstentions and one country absent. 

^ Vijayalakshmi Pandit had said: “Ours has been a moral victory of no 
small importance.” 

“* Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa 

^ Ex-Minister for Finance in N. W. F. P.; Secretary of the Khudai Khid- 
matgar Parliamentary Party. He was sentenced to six months’ rigorous im- 
prisonment on November 27 and on being released on bail came to Delhi. He 
expressed grave concern about the safety of the 40,000 Hindus and Sikhs who 
were still in Peshawar, Mardan, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Parachinar, 
awaiting evacuation as no refugee train was allowed to leave the N. W. F. P. 
since October 28. He was also concerned about the non-Muslim prisoners 
and under-trials in the Frontier jails. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


171 


say that you will live in South Africa with honour, that you will 
not leave. You did not go there because you wanted to. You 
were invited. You went as indentured labourers and afterwards 
you had children there. If it is a question of rights no one except 
the Negroes have a right to be there. The Boers do not have even 
as much right as you have.’ There were delegations from all over 
the world at the U. N. O. Our country also had to send a dele- 
gation. We acted rightly. People assemble there to bring about 
justice, that they cannot or will not is another matter. We must 
continue our fight in South Africa, not with a sword but with 
soul-force. Even the little girl sitting beside me has soul-force, 
others too have it. The soldiers, too, have soul-force. The 
sword can be snatched away from us. We can be disarmed. 
Our arm can be cut off but no one can take away our soul. It is 
eternal. It is there today and it will remain tomorrow and the 
day after. The body is worthless without the soul. The body one 
day has to be disposed of. My wife died and I could not keep her 
with me. Mahadev^ died who was of so much help to me. But 
I could not keep him and his body had to be cremated. So I 
shall say that if the Indians in South Africa have self-respect which 
I think they have, if they have courage, they must say that even 
if they did not secure two-thirds of the votes at the U. N. they 
did secure a very large number. They must tell the whites of 
South Africa to let them stay in the country with honour. They 
must tell them that they intend to conduct themselves with 
dignity. They do not want government service. They do not 
expect help from the whites but they must be allowed to breathe 
the air, drink the water and live on the land. After all they pay 
their way, earn their keep, wherever they want to stay. They do 
not claim the right to vote. If they want the vote they must have 
it in the same way as the whites have it; otherwise they will do 
without it. They will not carry on satyagraha for franchise but 
they must safeguard their dignity. They must have bread and 
they must have water and they must have land. Also their child- 
ren must have education. They will understand if no grants are 
forthcoming for the purpose but the education for the children 
is their right and they have the right to fight for this. It is not a 
question of victory or defeat but of laying down one’s life. They 
must do or die. There is no other recourse. If they want to 
live in this world in dignity they must do or die. Their duty is 
clear and admits of no argument. This is what I have to say 


* Mahadev Desai 



172 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


to the Indians of South Africa and to you. I have nothing else 
to offer. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 160-5 


149. LETTER TO KANU GANDHI 


New Delhi, 

5 a. m., December 4, 1947 

CHI. KANAIYO, 

Winter has now begun in right earnest here. We have an 
electric heater for the night. 

I got your letter and the enclosed copy of your suggestions. 
I read them as carefully as I should. I like your suggestions. The 
entire department should become self-supporting. That will be the 
true test of its genuineness. True, we are faced with the question 
of the real meaning of ‘self-supporting’, and then there is always 
such a thing as self-deception. 

Four or five of you may come over if you can. I should like 
it. But even then it would still be doubtful if I can give an 
impartial verdict. I need to see things for myself and it can 
be only if I were personally present in Noakhali. It remains to 
be seen whether such an occasion will come in my present life. 
Hence I leave it to each one of you to choose to come here or 
not to come. Whoever wants to, may come. 

You keep on worrying on Abba’s account. Rid yourself of 
this anxiety if you can. You can always ask her to go to you. 
Jamna wants to see both of you merely because of her attach- 
ment. But that does not affect me. Give the enclosed* to Amtus- 
salaam to read. I have written in Gujarati so that I may do it 
quickly. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* Vide the following item. 



150. LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM 


New Delhi, 

After the morning prayer, December 4, 1947 

DAUGHTER A. S., 

You wrote to me and asked Abha not to give the note to 
me. Abha told me this; I told her it was her duty to give it 
to me. She therefore handed it over to me at night. I read it 
just now. You wrote a letter, and sent it and [yet] left instruc- 
tions that it should not be delivered to me — all this gives a 
complete picture of your unsteady mind. 

You seek my guidance and your mind works in the opposite 
direction. This is no sign of a desire for guidance. I have 
already written to you about this matter, and helped you to 
understand it.' I see your good as well as mine only in that. 
That alone is real service. You can go to Borkamta on your own. 
You may not ask for money from me. You can stay there at 
your own free will and at your own will go to the Punjab. If 
I could take a definite decision I would certainly take one. But 
I am not perfect, I am not omniscient, am I ? Hence, whenever 
I am doubtful about my own view I might perhaps offer an 
opinion. I cannot do so in your case. You can come if you 
want to, either with the others or even alone, provided you can 
be spared from there. I have no such desire. Calm down! 
Calm down 1 1 Calm down 1 1 1 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


' Vide\o\. LXXXIX, p. 451. 


173 



151. LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM 


New Delhi, 

Afternoon, December 4, 1947 

DAUGHTER A. S., 

Yesterday I did not understand that it was an afterthought 
on your part not to let me have your letter.’ Abha strongly takes 
your side and says that my letter is sharp and would pain you. 
You would surely be pained if I did not at all write to you. 
This is true, isn’t it? 

There is a letter from Charu Babu today. Am I forbidding 
you from going to the Punjab? Only you cannot go with my 
consent. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


152. TALK WITH BURMESE DELEGATION^ 

New Delhi, 

December 4, 1947 

I am very happy that you could come. But there is nothing 
you can learn from our country today. It is our misfortune that 
today brother is cutting the throat of brother. You will not take 
away this example with you. Our country is very ancient; it has 
a unique culture. We must admit with shame that today we 
have brought this culture into disrepute. You must not remember 
our disgrace. You must be generous. You must ignore our lapses 
and see our virtues and make them your own. That we have 
secured freedom for our four hundred million people without 
a drop of blood having been shed is something unprecedented. Of 
course it is possible that the British had got tired or that we were 

’ Vide the preceding item. 

^ Thakin Nu, Prime Minister of Burma, accompanied by U Tin Tut, 
Foreign Minister and U Pe Kin, High Commissioner for Burma in Pakistan, 
called on Gandhiji in the afternoon. 

The report in The Hindustan Times has been collated with the Gujarati 
version in Dilhiman Gandhiji. 

174 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


175 


too weak to take up arms. But non-violence is not a weapon of 
the weak. It is a weapon of the brave. Its immense value can be 
measured only when the brave take it up and use it. I therefore 
advise you to copy from us not our brutalities but the noble 
virtues you see in this country. We have to sustain with- 
out the sword the freedom that we have gained without the 
sword. Today, one must admit India has an army. But it is 
my dream that this army will wield not guns and rifles but pick- 
axes and shovels, and they will be suitably trained in this art as 
they are today trained in martial arts.' 

Gandhiji told them that he hoped Burma would prove equal to any 
situation that might arise in the wake of its attaining independence. He 
was happy that the Burmese people were united and that there was no 
trouble so far. 

Thakin Nu invited Gandhiji to visit Burma. Gandhiji said he would be 
glad to do so but could not until peaceful conditions returned to India. 

The Hindustan Times, 5-12-1947, and Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 19-20 


153. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

New Delhi, 

December 4, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I talked to you yesterday about Kathiawar. Today I have a 
telegram from Shamaldas. Yesterday I had a telegram from 
Dhebarbhai too. Both say that the news I have been receiving 
had been highly exaggerated. So far as they know no women had 
been abducted and there was not a single case of murder. In fact 
after Sardar Patel went there nothing untoward happened. Before 
that there had been some little rioting and looting. Shamaldas 
was upset by my statements, and that was but natural. He has 
gone to Kathiawar from Bombay. He will make an investigation 
and let me know. I have been receiving telegrams also from the 
U. S. A., Iran and London repeating the charge that the Muslims 
in Kathiawar have been subjected to terrible atrocities. Truthful 
people should not indulge in this kind of propaganda. And what 
has Iran got to do with what happens in India? 

Shamaldas Gandhi says that he makes no distinction between 
Hindus and Muslims. I would like to help the Muslims who write 


A Burmese peasant-hat was then presented to Gandhiji. 



176 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


to me provided they are on the path of truth. But if they 
give up truth and make a mountain out of a molehill and if they 
spread stories all over the world, that will be too much. I can 
understand wires coming from inside India but when wires 
come from abroad it pains me. 

I have received a letter from a Muslim in Hoshangabad. 
It is a very good letter. Guru Nanak’s birthday is an important 
day. Sikhs wherever they are celebrate it. At Hoshangabad also 
they celebrated it and invited the Muslims. They assured them 
that they were brothers and the Sikhs had no quarrel with them. 
Perhaps I told you once how at the Hoshangabad station a Muslim 
was on the point of being killed and the Sikhs had come to his 
rescue. So if on Guru Nanak’s birthday the Sikhs really did 
what the correspondent describes, it is a great thing. If this 
example is followed everywhere the blot on us will be removed. 
I thought that the newspapers should give publicity to such 
happenings. 

Another thing I want to talk to you about is the Chamber of 
Commerce. I have already hinted to you about the Marwari and 
European Chamber of Commerce.* If we can have a Marwari 
Vyapari Mandal why can we not have a Muslim Vyapari Mandal 
too? But the Marwari Vyapari Mandal people say that it is for 
all and that others besides Marwaris are represented on it. I 
enquired as to how many Marwaris it had and how many Hindus, 
how many Sikhs, how many Europeans. The letters I have re- 
ceived from them are in English. They have sent a statement of 
their policy and their rules and their report — all in English as if 
I did not know Hindustani or Hindi. I confess that I do not know 
English as well as I know my own language. How can I dis- 
regard the language that I imbibed with my mother’s milk and 
give more importance to English which I first started learning 
at the age of twelve ? I asked if there were many Englishmen on 
that body. They must tell me what it is all about. If the name 
is Marwari Vyapari Mandal, then how can everyone join it? The 
Muslim Chamber of Commerce can similarly say that it repre- 
sents everybody. It can have on it a Hindu or two. This sort 
of thing does not convince one. 

The Prime Minister of Burma had been to see me.^ He is full 
of humility. I told him that it was a very good thing that he 
had paid a visit to India. Our country was geographically large 
and its culture was no doubt ancient. But what was happening 

* Vide pp. 125-6. 

^ Vide the preceding item. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


177 


today — the mutual mistrust of Hindus and Muslims — was not 
something from which anyone could learn anything. Guru Nanak 
preached that the Sikhs should be friendly with both Muslims 
and Hindus. In fact there is no such distinction between Hindus 
and Sikhs. Tara Singh has said that one cannot separate Hindus 
and Sikhs. I should be very happy if we could conduct ourselves 
thus. The two religions are fundamentally one. Even Guru Nanak 
never said that he was not a Hindu nor did any other Guru. 
If we read the Granthsaheb we shall find that it is full of the teach- 
ings of the Vedas and Upanishads. The teachings of Koran are 
similar. The same is true of the teachings of Guru Govind Singh. 
What he taught is also to be found in the Hindu scriptures. There 
is nothing wholly new. He has only emphasized certain things. 

I claim that they originate from the Vedas. It cannot be said that 
Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism are separate religions. 
All these four faiths and their offshoots are one. Hinduism is an 
ocean into which all the rivers run. It can absorb Islam and 
Christianity and all the other religions and only then can it be- 
come an ocean. Otherwise it remains merely a stream along 
which large ships cannot ply. 

What Burma can take from India is its culture which today 
has fallen into disrepute. Never before in history has there been 
a single instance of so large a country with such immense 
population securing its freedom not by violent conflict but through 
non-violence. You may say that the English had got fed up and 
they left. That is not so. If there is anything to be learnt from 
India, it is non-violence. Not that we have learnt the lesson of 
non-violence fully. We are weak. We took to non-violence because 
we had not the weapons for a violent fight. Non-violence is the 
best weapon. Only the pure of heart can use it. I therefore told 
the Burmese Prime Minister that if he wished to take anything 
from India it should be this non-violence. He must not think that 
if India lapsed into barbarity, how could Burma which took its 
religion from India advance ? I told him that if he wanted to copy 
India he must copy the good qualities that India once had and still 
retained. He must not take anything barbarous. We must export 
only what is good so that the world may learn from us. Had 
India not attained its freedom, Burma and Ceylon also would 
not have attained theirs. And India did not become free by resort- 
ing to the sword. And if we did not need the sword for securing 
freedom, we will not need it for sustaining it. If we cannot keep 
our freedom without the sword, then I shall think that India has 
done nothing for the world. Today we have an army. Attempts 


90-12 



178 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


are being made to strengthen it. Attempts are also being made to 
further enlarge the Navy and the Air Force. I declare that in this 
way we are not really strengthening ourselves. We shall be doing 
no good to the world in this way. And if the world learns this 
kind of thing from us it is not going to gain anything, rather 
it will be doomed. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 166-8 


154. LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI 

December 5, 1947 


CHI. NARANDAS, 

Jehangir Patel and Dr. Dinshaw Mehta are going there to 
observe for themselves the condition of Muslims in Kathiawar. 
They are going in their individual capacities and not on my behalf 
or with my authority. They feel that this is the best contribution 
they can make towards the service of the country. Introduce them 
to whomsoever you think it necessary for them to meet in this 
connection. They will not stay in Kathiawar for long. It will not 
be more than eight to ten days. They know the Jamsaheb. If neces- 
sary, they will meet the other Princes too. We have to consider 
what truth there is in the allegations made by the Muslims. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Bapuna Patro~9: Shri Narandas Gandhine, Part II, p. 320. Also C. W. 8648. 
Courtesy: Narandas Gandhi 


155. LETTER TO SHARDA H. KOTAK 

December 5, 1947 

CHI. SHARDA, 

I am not sorry that Harjivan’ has passed away. He suffered 
a lot. We tried so many remedies but the disease was fatal. One 
would always prefer to pass away in one’s bed. I am not sur- 
prised that everyone there helped. I would have been surprised, 
pained, if they had not. 

^ Addressee’s husband 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 179 

It remains to be seen what you will do now. Remain calm 
and do as Lakshmidas and other elders advise. 

Could Harjivan see my last letter^? Was he conscious till 
the end? I shall await your letter. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati; Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


156. TALK WITH GHAMHTAMSINGH GUPTA 

New Delhi, 

December 5, 1947 

Now that the English have left the country the national lan- 
guage for inter-provincial communication can only be Hindustani. 
I have great respect for the English language. But it can never 
be the national language of India. We do not persevere in learn- 
ing our two ancient scripts, which only means that we do not 
have enough patriotism. I will go so far as to say that every 
Indian should, if possible, learn all the languages of India. One 
should have a zest for it. There is no harm in this. It will only 
develop our minds and increase our knowledge. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^II, p. 26 

157. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 5, 1947 

brothers and sisters. 

The letters given to me here are sometimes too long. You 
cannot expect me to go through them and answer them, because 
it takes time even to read them. I cannot read them here for it 
would be wasting my time and yours. I have a note which men- 
tions my meeting Liaquat Ali Khan. The writer asks if I am still 
not satisfied that nothing untoward has happened in Kathiawar. If 
the writer of the note is present I may tell him that nothing has 
happened in Kathiawar. Shamaldas Gandhi says that nothing has 


Vide Vol. LXXXIX, p. 509. 



180 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


happened to justify the reports that I have received. There had 
been incidents but minor ones. They were given publicity by the 
Pakistan newspapers and telegrams were dispatched. The reports 
were terrible but such terrible things did not happen. Today I 
have another wire from Shamaldas. He says he has made inves- 
tigations and found that such things had not taken place. Certainly 
after the Sardar’s visit to Kathiawar nothing untoward has 
happened. The reports I had earlier received appeared to suggest 
it was the Sardar who incited the people to rowdyism. But after 
he went to Kathiawar no incidents took place. This changes the 
complexion of things. Shamaldas Gandhi says that he will tell 
Muslims not to send such telegrams. I have received further tele- 
grams from the very Muslims who had earlier made the allegations, 
admitting that they were exaggerated and that they had made 
a mistake. They have also written to say that the reports car- 
ried by the Pakistan newspapers were incorrect, that the extent of 
the damage reported was also wrong and it could not be said 
that the Muslims were scared and nervous. I am happy to hear 
it. I have said that I shall do whatever I can for our Muslim 
brethren. We must never kick one who is already down. We 
must raise him up. This is the demand of humanity, of love, 
this is civilized behaviour. I shall never throw anyone down 
even if he be my enemy — though of course I have no enemy. It 
was a mere dream that the Muslims would get everything once 
Pakistan came into being. After all it is not as if only those 
who are in Pakistan would be left alive and those outside Pakistan 
would be killed. Pakistan is a veritable sea of Hindus and Muslims. 
Will they drive out all the Hindus and Sikhs from there ? Those 
that have come out did not really want to leave their homes. 
But it has happened. I have received letters from Sikhs saying 
that they will know no rest till they are able to go back. For 
instance a person may have a thousand-acre farm near Lyallpur 
where he had been growing wheat, bananas, cotton and fruits. 
How can he leave it for good? He will not rest till he can go 
back. And what happened in India? The displaced Sikhs were 
furious and wanted revenge. I said it was not humanity. It was 
barbarism. They should not indulge in it, that good should 
be returned for evil. We must not copy the wrong-doer, we 
must emulate the man who does good. It, therefore, gave me 
satisfaction when I received that wire from Kathiawar. I shall 
tell my Muslim brethren : if something had happened they 
should have toned it down to a half or even a quarter; they 
should not have exaggerated it and given it publicity in foreign 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


181 


countries. After all if Hindus and Sikhs — though there are no 
Sikhs there — go wild, can the world save the Muslims? Yes, 
they can say that we have not made the right use of our free- 
dom. They can threaten to take it away. All that is possible. 
But the dead will not return to life thereby. We should there- 
fore never exaggerate. Our agony is our own and no outsider 
can take it on himself. We should try to make light of it. We 
impress the world only when we exaggerate the good work done 
by another, not his folly. 

There is another thing I must tell you. It does not 
concern you but I can convey it through you. I have told 
Brijkrishna not to give anyone any appointment to see me from 
the 6th to the 13th. That I do not want to see people does not 
mean that I am ill or that I want to enjoy myself. For many 
months now this matter has been under consideration. I cannot 
go to Sevagram. So people from Sevagram are coming here. The 
Kasturba Trust will be sitting from tomorrow. Then there will 
be meetings of the Spinners’ Association, Nayee Talim, and Village 
Industries Association. The four associations are going to meet 
during this time. If they are properly conducted they will certainly 
consume some time. How am I to give my time to these meetings 
and to visitors? I have therefore requested people not to try to see 
me during this time. Not that I shall not be doing my own work. 
But people coming from outside want to see me out of curiosity. 

As I have already said there have been talks going on about 
lifting the control on cloth, also on food. Not that it is going 
to happen tomorrow, but a process has started and everybody 
says I have done a good thing by suggesting it. I have 
received letters from all quarters saying that it would be good 
if the controls were lifted. Of course if the controls are lifted it 
will not mean that we shall be relieved of our obligations. Once 
decontrol comes into effect certain obligations devolve on the 
traders. I must tell Ghanshyamdas also to produce more cloth. 
He may say that he only carries out orders. He produces what 
cloth he is asked to produce and he takes the price. But once the 
cloth is decontrolled, what will Ghanshyamdas and other friends 
do? Does it mean they will be free to loot the people? In that 
case I shall be having a very bad time. People will hold me re- 
sponsible for it. I am a servant of India irrespective of my 
status. If what I say does not appeal to the Government, that is, 
to those running the Government, it will have no effect however 
much I may shout. I am not God so that whatever I may say 
will prevail. I discuss and decide and then say that the control 



182 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


on cloth and other articles should be lifted. It means that if five 
maunds of foodgrain is available today, we shall have ten maunds 
tomorrow because I feel that some of it has been hoarded. But 
if the peasants do not have any foodgrain and I say that the 
control should be lifted, will the people not then starve? I am not 
a fool who will let the people starve. I myself do not starve 
because Ghanshyamdas makes available to me goat’s milk and 
fruit and vegetables. I believe that the farmers have enough food- 
grain but that the price offered is so low that they cannot even 
feed themselves on it. They part with whatever the Government 
forces out of them. For the rest they say they will declare their 
stocks after the control is lifted. I feel that if the farmers can 
clear their stocks at a good price they will not starve. Admitting 
that we do not have as much foodgrain as we need, does it mean 
that a person should eat all that he can lay his hands on, while 
his neighbours starve? If we have sunk so low, then there is 
no cure. Control certainly is not the cure. If that happens the 
Government which is run by our Ministers must abdicate. People 
indulge in deceit. They are not truthful. The traders who should 
carry on trade for the benefit of the people are interested in 
filling their own coffers and in amassing wealth for their sons and 
daughters. What should the Government do? Should it use force 
or should it shoot people down? We do not have such power nor do 
we want such power. We may have a police force but not 
for shooting down people. If we start shooting down people 
who will be left alive? Where is our thirty-year old training? 
Where is our humanity? This cannot go on. In this way we 
shall only lose our newly gained freedom. I, therefore, say that 
controls must go. If the Government says that decontrol will lead 
to starvation, then I shall say that Panchayat Raj has not been 
established, democracy has not come to us, that Ramarajya 
has not been established and it is for Ramarajya that I want to 
keep myself alive. I shall say that those who are made free from 
controls should have self-imposed controls on themselves and make 
others happy. The civil servants in the Government may call 
me names. They may say I have no right to interfere, that I have 
no experience of running a government, that afterwards it 
would be difficult to reimpose the controls and feed the people. 
I shall say they are right. I have never been in the civil service, 
I have never run a government, but I have moved among the 
millions. I know their hearts. I understand them. 

Now about cloth. About food you may say that we have 
not enough stock of it. But nobody has yet said that we do not 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


183 


have enough cotton. We have so much of it that we export it. 
You will say we do not have enough mills. I shall say the mills 
are in our homes. They are in the homes of all the women sit- 
ting here. Every one of you has been blessed with two hands. 
If you want clothes on your back you should spin. If you 

cannot, you may go naked. We have a number of mills but if 
the production does not come up to the requirement we must 
resort to hand-spinning and hand-weaving. Weaving is not diffi- 
cult. We have so many weavers in our country that we can have 

any amount of cloth woven, but some people have a deli- 
cate taste. They will weave only mill-yarn. They cannot 

weave hand-spun yarn. If they start weaving hand-spun yarn 
there is no need to go naked. Then our beautiful country — the 
home of so many hundreds of millions who know their trade, who 
know how to produce cloth — cannot go naked. Therefore control 
on cloth is the limit of ignorance and the sooner it is lifted the 
better. So far as foodgrain is concerned the farmers and traders 
must declare that they produce and sell to meet the people’s 
needs, and they will not indulge in dishonest practices. The far- 
mers should understand that they have to grow crops not merely 
to feed themselves but to feed all. We must produce one seer 
where we produced only a half. But let us guide the people; 
let us provide them incentive. There is no need for anyone 
to go hungry or naked in India. We have been denuded of our 
cloth because of our ignorance. We do not produce as much 
food or as much milk as we need even though we have a large 
number of cattle. What is this if not folly? 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarihana Pravachan — II, pp. 169-74 



158. A TALK^ 


New Delhi, 

December 5, 1947 

When someone has fever the doctor first seeks to rid him of 
the fever by giving a mixture. The fever goes down. But it will 
come back, for the disease has not been diagnosed and the cause 
of the fever has not been traced. Similarly most people in the 
world today want an end to war, but wars continue. If the 
causes of wars were discovered and justice done where justice was 
demanded, there would be no wars. Today various groups of people 
have been pleading with the Government to ban cow-slaughter. 
I know that even beef-eaters have asked for such a ban, but as 
soon as a cow goes dry people stop looking after her. They do 
not ask that cows should be cared for. They simply ask that cow- 
slaughter should be stopped. But if everyone looked after cows 
well and insisted that no one should eat beef, cow-slaughter would 
stop by itself. But beef-eating goes on, the cows are neglected and 
yet the Government is asked to stop cow-slaughter. That would be 
making fun of the Government. In the same way one must first 
look deeply into the causes of wars and seek ways to remove those 
causes. Wars in a large measure are fought over economic issues. 
If we give up selfishness and resolve to take the barest minimum 
for the satisfaction of our wants, there will be no occasion for wars. 
Unless there is a complete transformation in our economy and our 
style of life, peace will elude us, however hard we may strive for it. 
Europe and America want peace and yet they use their intellec- 
tual, technical and scientific resources for production of nuclear 
weapons. Therefore, while they express the wish that peace 
should reign in the world, they are busy inventing ways to dis- 
turb the peace and to destroy the world. It does not occur to 
them to seek ways to restore peace and stop the possibility of 
wars. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 28-30 


* A friend accompanying Jawaharlal Nehru had asked Gandhiji how 
peace in the world was to be established. 

184 



159. GIVE AND TAKE 


A Sindhi sufferer writes: 

At this critical time when thousands of our countrymen are leav- 
ing their ancestral homes and are pouring in from Sind, the Punjab and 
the N. W. F. P., I find that there is, in some sections of the Hindus, a 
provincial spirit. Those who are coming here suffered terribly and 
deserve all the warmth that the Hindus of the Indian Union can rea- 
sonably give. You have rightly called them dukhiA though they are 
commonly called sharanarthis. The problem is so great that no govern- 
ment can cope with it unless the people back the efforts with all 
their might. I am sorry to confess that some of the landlords have 
increased the rents of houses enormously and some are demanding 
pagri. May I request you to raise your voice against the provincial spi- 
rit and the pagri system specially at this time of terrible suffering? 

Though I sympathize with the writer, I cannot endorse his 
analysis. Nevertheless I am able to testify that there are rapa- 
cious landlords who are not ashamed to fatten themselves at the 
expense of the sufferers. But I know personally that there are 
others who, though they may not be able or willing to go as 
far as the writer or I may wish, do put themselves to inconve- 
nience in order to lessen the suffering of the victims. The best 
way to lighten the burden is for the sufferers to learn bow to pro- 
fit by this unexpected blow. They should learn the art of humi- 
lity which demands a rigorous self-searching rather than a search 
of others and consequent criticism, often harsh, oftener undeserved 
and only sometimes deserved. Searching of self ennobles, search- 
ing of others debases. The sufferers should learn the art and 
virtue of corporate life, in which the circumstance of co-operation 
is ever widening till at last it encircles the whole human race. 
If they do this no sufferer will live in isolation. All of them, 
no matter to which province they belong, will hold together and 
would be considering not the welfare of self but that of all. This 
does not mean that all of them will live or insist on living at one 
place, an impossible feat at any time, more so today, when lakhs 
upon lakhs of people have been torn from their homes, not 

’ The Gujarati version of this appeared in Harijanbandhu, 14-12-1947. 

2 Vide p. 104. 


185 



186 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


knowing where to lay their heads upon. But this humble spirit of 
co-operation does mean that wherever they are placed, they will 
feel one with all the sufferers, no matter from what strata of society 
they are drawn or to which province they belong. Insistence 
on being accommodated in a particular place of one’s choice there 
will be none. The sufferers will never grumble. They will disdain 
to occupy houses belonging to Muslim owners or tenants, whether 
these places are physically occupied or evacuated. It is for the 
Government to decide what they will do with property evacuated 
under abnormal conditions that are prevalent in India today. 
The sufferers’ one and only care would be to hold together and 
act as one man. It would be seen that if the idea thus presented 
takes shape and spreads, the problem of accommodating suffer- 
ers, otherwise styled refugees, will become incredibly simple and 
they will cease to be a menace. 

Moreover, every sufferer who is not a cripple will do his 
or her full share of work against bread, clothing and shelter 
in a becoming manner. Thus they will realize the dignity 
of labour and feel dependent upon no one. All will be equal 
to one another irrespective of sex. Some labour will be shared 
by all, e. g., sanitary work including latrine-cleaning and scaveng- 
ing. No labour will be considered too low or too high. In this 
society there will be no room for drones, idlers or loafers. This 
camp life is any day superior to the city life of dirt and squalor 
side by side with palaces — difficult to decide which is a greater 
eyesore between the two. 

New Delhi, December 6, 1947 
Harijan, 14-12-1947 

160. LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAI 

December 6, 1947 

CHI. VALJI, 

I read your article on the cinema' just now. It took me 
some time to decipher some of the English words which were un- 
familiar to me. When you quote from a book, it will perhaps 
help if you send the book, too. Alternatively, you may get the 
article typed or write it in a still clearer hand. I would not be 
able to translate this article into Gujarati. I myself did not 

' The article entitled “Reconstitute Film Censor Boards” appeared in 
Harijan, 14-12-1947. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


187 


follow all the English words fully. You had agreed to send the 
Gujarati and the Hindi translations also. Even if you cannot 
send the Hindi, send the Gujarati. You may, if you wish, send it 
directly. I am writing to the people at Ahmedabad not to 
translate it into Gujarati. As for your previous articles, I am 
inquiring about them. 

Are you all right? 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 7506. Courtesy: Valji G. Desai 


161. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 6, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

You heard the bhajan and the Ramdhun sung by Subbulakshmi'. 
She is new to Delhi. Usually she gives music recitals. One ought 
to lose oneself while singing bhajans and Ramdhun. Today you 
must have realized why people are so keen to hear her. She has 
a melodious voice. I welcomed her message offering to come 
and sing here. 

Today I do not wish to take more than 15 minutes. Yester- 
day I took 25 minutes which was too long. I am ashamed of 
it. I must train myself to finish within 15 minutes. Today I in- 
tend to take only 15 minutes and leave out what cannot be 
covered within that time. 

I had a letter from a friend yesterday. I have only been 
able to read a part of it. I have another letter today which I 
have not been able to go through. I must ask to be excused. 
The letter which I have read in part says that I am too simple a 
man, that I do not know how the world’s affairs are run and am 
apt to be deceived. The correspondent also explains the nature 
of the deception and cautions me to be careful. He asks me to 
see what is happening in Pakistan and suggests that we should 
do the same here. That we should take revenge I do not agree. 
We cannot burn the houses of the Muslims. However humble 
those houses may be they are as dear to their owners as the 
palaces of millionaires may be to them. It is in these houses 
that they live. When a Muslim has to go to Pakistan he suffers. 

' M. S. Subbulakshmi, eminent exponent of Carnatak music 



188 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


The correspondent asks when the displaced Hindus and Sikhs 
can go back to their homes. I may inform him that so long as 
they do not go back I shall not rest. It is a different thing if 
they die before that happens. So long as there is a single Hindu 
or Sikh left who does not get his house back, I shall not rest. 
Yes, one may not ask that the house that has been burnt should 
be restored to its former state. No government can do that, not 
even the Government of India. I shall say that the Hindus and 
Sikhs should go to Model Town and stay there. The Lahore 
Hindus and Sikhs can ask the Pakistan Government to return 
them their houses and their land just as they are. All that 
they should ask is that the Muslims who have occupied their 
properties should be made to vacate them. We cannot ask them 
to raise houses on the land. They should merely return the land. 
Those who are now in the Indian Union should become truthful 
and decent. We must not imitate Pakistan. If they cut off 
their noses we can’t do the same. 

I shall further say to the correspondent that if we have made 
a mistake we must rectify it. Everyone makes mistakes. Only, one 
must not repeat them. Man is liable to err, even as he has the 
potentiality to do good. Once he rectifies his mistakes, he can 
only do good. If we stick to our dharma it is not necessary to 
advertise it to the world. 

I have had to write on what happened to Kathiawar Mus- 
lims. I did the right thing. It is good to tell the Hindus there 
about it. It is good to tell the Government. It is our right. When 
we agreed to the formation of Pakistan we had not bargained for 
the houses of Hindus and Sikhs being burnt in Pakistan and their 
being driven out of the country. If mistakes have been made 
they must be rectified. Of course they can say that we should also 
rectify our own mistakes. They may say that the Muslims who 
had gone to Pakistan were driven out of India and that they 
should be taken back. If that is done the displaced Hindus and 
Sikhs could go back to Pakistan and the displaced Muslims in 
Pakistan could come back to India. This will be good both for 
India and Pakistan. If not, then both the countries will fall in 
the eyes of the world. We have always conducted ourselves hon- 
ourably. We won our freedom honourably. It is not I who say 
it. It is not Hindus and Muslims who say it. It is the whole 
world that says that we have attained our freedom by honour- 
able means. We should preserve it by honourable means and 
not by resorting to rowdyism. Rowdyism could be the way 
to lose our freedom. If we keep our conduct and our behaviour 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


189 


clean the world will see that we have made amends for our 
former mistakes. What is the world going to do about Pakistan 
— you may ask. I shall say that the world does not have to do 
anything or say anything. Pakistan has to cleanse itself. 

I am reminded that the Resolution* passed by the A. I. C. C. 
had my support and that I am responsible for its being passed. I 
am however told that people do not want it. Displaced Hindus 
and Sikhs do not want to go back to Pakistan. I do not say that 
they should go back as beggars. True, they have come away 
from Pakistan because they were helpless. But they must go back 
with dignity. The Pakistan Muslims should tell them that they 
have changed for the better and now invite them to go back. 
Similarly we should tell the Muslims who have gone away that 
their houses and their land are as they had left behind and that 
they should come and occupy them. If we get over our madness 
and behave as gentlemen, things will be all right. Where is the 
deception here? I do not deceive anyone. The world should 
not look for deception here. The A. I. C. C. has passed the Reso- 
lution that the displaced Hindus and Sikhs should all go back 
to their homes and land in Lyallpur and they should be invited 
to do so with love. Our Sikh brethren used to be farmers there. 
They have to go there in any case. This is my dream. I wish 
to live to see this dream realized. If it is not the will of God 
that this dream be realized. He will take me away. That is 
why I am staying on in Delhi. If I cannot do this here, where 
else can I do anything? If only Pakistan would mend its ways, 
confess its errors and assure us that it would behave decently, all 
would be well and we could live as good neighbours. There is 
no reason why we should remain enemies of each other. Enmity 
cannot be our dharma. I have concluded within ten minutes 
today. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 175-8 


* Vide Appendix I, Resolution (2), “ Repatriation of Refugees ”. 



162. DISCUSSION AT KASTURBA GANDHI NATIONAL 
MEMORIAL TRUST MEETING 


New Delhi, 
December 7, 1947 

question: Should the sevikas^ of the Kasturba Trust be given instruc- 
tion in first-aid and home remedies or should this be a different department? 
For instance, should the women engaged in Nayee Talim and khadi work 
receive such training too? 

GANDHiji : I do hold that any woman who wants to be an 
all-round village worker must have a basic training in nursing. 
That is to say she must know how to deal with and treat com- 
mon diseases such as boils, malaria, scabies, vomiting, diarrhoea 
and so on. I of course believe only in nature cure. But these 
women must know what the disease is, what diet is to be given 
and how sponging, enema, etc., have to be given. All this is 
of course covered under Nayee Talim. 

Q. Now that we have our own Government, should we accept assis- 
tance from the Government? For instance scholarships? 

G. This, as in the case of the previous question, is a matter 
of individual discretion. But I hold the view that we should not 
alter the policy we have adopted so far. People everywhere seem 
to have become unconcerned and imagine that since now we 
have our own Government there is no harm in accepting grants. 
But our Government has been there for barely five months, and 
in this brief period it has had to carry enormous burdens. The 
financial plight of the Government today is far from easy and we 
must not make it more difficult by burdening it further, nor should 
the Government involve itself in the question. This much relief 
can certainly be expected with our own Government in power, 
viz., that workers, both men and women, working in the Kasturba 
Trust and other national institutions, will not have to face the 
difficulties they did under the British rule. 

q. If the sevikas who have received training start working for the 
Communist Party, what should one do? Should one ask them to refund the 
expenses incurred on their training? Again, if women from the Communist 
Party or the Socialist Party request for training being given to them, should 

* Women workers 


190 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


191 


they be given the training? And should we take in trainees recommended 
by the Government? 

G. It cannot of course be a happy situation if we train workers 
and are then denied the benefit of their services. But we must not 
be disappointed. If the Government sends us trainees and pays 
their expenses we must give them the training. And we must 
emphatically tell the trainees that courtesy demands that they 
observe the conditions that go with the training. We must not worry 
which ism a trainee follows, or which party she comes from. We 
must be satisfied if she signs the pledge and follows the rules. This 
is not a sectarian organization or a party organization. It is an 
institution of service. We should not seek Government grants. We 
have to train women village workers for the revival of the villages. 

Q,. Should we have prayers in the training institutions? 

G. Certainly, prayers we must have. In fact I hold that 
prayers must become a part of life. It is so with me. Prayer is 
the food of the soul. It is the broom to sweep away all the dirt 
from the mind. And the women getting instructions in the camp 
should as a matter of etiquette present themselves for prayers at the 
appointed time. Whether they are believers or non-believers, 
whether they have faith in prayers or not, they must attend the 
prayers. It cannot be without its effects. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 43-5 


163. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 
December 7, 1947 

brothers and sisters. 

Today I wish to talk to you about a very complicated matter, 
which is also rather sensitive. It has appeared in the newspapers. 
You will have seen that yesterday some Hindu women workers went 
to Lahore and met some Muslim women there.' They discussed 
the question of what ought to be done about the Hindu women 

' An Inter-Dominion Conference was held in Lahore on December 6, 
to consider ways and means for the restoration of abducted women. 

A joint appeal to the people of Pakistan and India to restore all 
abducted women was made by the representatives at the Conference. Promi- 
nent among the signatories to the appeal were: Ghazanfar Ali, Iftikhar Hus- 
sain Khan of Mamdot, Begum Liaquat Ali Khan, Begum Shah Nawaz, 
Begum Bashir Ahmed, Iftikhar-ud-din, K. C. Neogy, Swaran Singh, 
Rameshwari Nehru, Mridula Sarabhai and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya. 



192 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


abducted by Muslims in Pakistan and the Muslim women abducted 
by Hindus and Sikhs in East Punjab. A very large number of 
Muslims have already left India and it is possible some more 
may yet leave. We should now resolve that not a single Muslim 
will be compelled to leave. If they voluntarily opt for Pakistan 
that is a different matter. But the fact is that no one wants 
voluntarily to leave India. Why should anyone want to give up 
one’s house and property? It is not as if they had houses and 
properties waiting for them in Pakistan. Those voluntarily 
opting for Pakistan or going for the sake of jobs are very few, 
which is natural because there are not enough jobs for them 
in Pakistan. And if their established businesses in India are not 
affected, there is no reason for them to go. 

But what of the women? This is a complicated question. 
Some say that about 12,000 women had been abducted by 
Hindus and Sikhs and twice that number had been abducted by 
Muslims in Pakistan. Some others say that this estimate is too 
low. I would say 12,000 is not a small number. Why, a thousand, 
or even one, is not a small number. Why should even a single 
woman be abducted? It is barbaric for a Hindu woman to be 
abducted by a Muslim or a Muslim woman to be abducted by 
a Hindu or a Sikh. Some people believe that 12,000 represents a 
very conservative figure. Let us say that 12,000 women had 
been abducted by Muslims of Pakistan and another 12,000 women 
had been abducted by Hindus and Sikhs of East Punjab. The 
problem is how to recover them. The women workers had been 
to Pakistan to consider how to solve this problem. The Hindu 
and Sikh women carried away by force should be restored to 
their families. Similarly the Muslim women taken away should 
be restored to theirs. This task should not be left to the families 
of the women. It should be our charge. They also met Ghazan- 
far Ali' and a police officer whose name I forget. Mridulabehn^ 
and Rameshwaribehn^, who had been to Lahore, both gave me 
separate reports and told me that they discussed the question of 
how abducted women should be recovered. Obviously it will 

* Minister in charge of Relief and Rehabilitation in Pakistan; he had 
suggested at the Conference that a joint organization of the Dominions of 
India and Pakistan should be formed for the restoration of kidnapped women 
and children to their families. 

^ Daughter of Ambalal Sarabhai; one of the trustees of the Kasturba 
Gandhi National Memorial Trust 

^ Rameshwari Nehru; Vice-President, Central Board of Harijan Sevak 
Sangh; President of the women’s section set up by the Ministry of Relief and 
Rehabilitation 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


193 


not do to send police parties or armed units as an escort for 
these women. Of course some Hindu and Sikh women workers 
could go to Pakistan accompanied by police officers from East 
Punjab to bring back the abducted women. But this is not 
being done. It is said that the women concerned do not now 
want to return, but still they have to be brought back. Muslim 
women similarly have to be taken back to Pakistan. It is also 
said that the Sikh and Hindu women concerned have embraced 
Islam and married their Muslim abductors. It could be true. 
But I do not admit that they are not willing to return. Similar 
is the case of Muslim women in India. 

We have become barbarous in our behaviour. It is true of 
East Punjab as well as of West Punjab. It is meaningless to ask 
which of them is more barbaric. Barbarity has no degrees. Raja 
Gazanfar Ali says that both parties have indulged in atrocious 
behaviour. It is not necessary to ask who has been more guilty. 
Atrocities have taken place on a mass scale and it is irrelevant 
who took the first step. The need is for women who have been 
abducted and harassed to be taken back to their homes. It is 
my belief that the police cannot do this. The army cannot do 
this. Yes, a team of women workers could be sent to East Punjab 
and another team to West Punjab but I do not think that would 
be effective. I can say as a man of experience that this is not the 
way to do this work. This is a task for the Governments to tackle. 
I am not saying that the Governments were behind the abduc- 
tions. It was not the Government of East Punjab which organized 
abductions. In East Punjab Hindus and Sikhs were responsible for 
them and in West Punjab Muslims were responsible. What further 
investigation is required? Whatever the number — I put it at 
12,000 at least — East Punjab and West Punjab should return 
them. 

It is being said that the families of the abducted women no 
longer want to receive them back. It would be a barbarian 
husband or a barbarian parent who would say that he would 
not take back his wife or daughter. I do not think the women 
concerned had done anything wrong. They had been subjected 
to violence. To put a blot on them and to say that they are no 
longer fit to be accepted in society is unjust. At least this 
does not happen among Muslims. At least Islam is liberal in 
this respect, so this is a matter that the Governments should take 
up. The Governments should trace all these women. They 
should be traced and restored to their families. The police and 
women social workers cannot effectively deal with this. The 
90-13 



194 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


problem is difficult, which means to say that public opinion is 
not favourable. You cannot say that all the 12,000 women were 
abducted by ruffians. I do not think that is the case. It is good 
men that have become ruffians. People are not born as goondas; 
they become so under certain circumstances. Both the Govern- 
ments had been weak in this respect. Neither Government has 
shown enough strength to recover the abducted women. Had 
both the Governments exercised authority, what happened in East 
Punjab and West Punjab would not have happened. But our 
independence was born only three months ago. It is still in its 
infancy. 

In my view Pakistan is responsible for spreading this poison. 
But what good can come from apportioning responsibility? There 
is only one way of saving these women and that is that the Gov- 
ernments should even now wake up to their responsibility, give 
this task the first priority and all their time and accomplish it even 
at the cost of their lives. Only thus can these women be rescued. 
Of course we should help the Government if it requires help. 

As I told you yesterday I should not speak for more than fif- 
teen minutes; so I end here. Two or three minutes are still left 
but I shall not use them. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 178-82 


164. A FOREWORD 

Charlie Andrews* was simple like a child, upright as a die, 
and shy to a degree. For the biographers^ the work has been a 
labour of love. A life such as Andrews’ needs no introduction. 
It is its own introduction. 

New Delhi, December 8, 1947 
Charles Freer Andrews, p. 15 


* Charles Freer Andrews (1871-1940); English missionary, author and 
educationist; a close associate of Gandhiji and Rabindranath Tagore 
^ Benarsidas Chaturvedi and Marjorie Sykes 



165. NO LIMITATIONS^ 


A correspondent says in substance: 

Individual ahimsa I can understand. Corporate ahimsa 
between friends is also intelligible. But you talk of ahimsa 
towards avowed enemies. This is like a mirage. It will be a 
mercy if you give up this obstinacy of yours. If you do not, 
you will forfeit the esteem you enjoy. What is worse, you, 
being considered a Mahatma, mislead many credulous persons 
to their own and society’s harm. 

That non-violence which only an individual can use is not of 
much use in terms of society. Man is a social being. His ac- 
complishments to be of use must be such as any person with suffi- 
cient diligence can attain. That which can be exercised only 
among friends is of value only as a spark of non-violence. It can- 
not merit the appellation of ahimsa. “Enmity vanishes before 
ahimsa”, is a great aphorism. It means that the greatest enmity 
requires an equal measure of ahimsa for its abatement. Cultiva- 
tion of this virtue may need long practice, even extending to 
several births. It does not become useless on that account. 
Travelling along the route, the pilgrim will meet richer experiences 
from day to day so that he may have a glimpse of the beauty 
he is destined to see at the top. This will add to his zest. No one 
is entitled to infer from this that the path will be a continuous 
carpet of roses without thorns. A poeH has sung that the way 
to reach God accrues only to the very brave, never to the faint- 
hearted. The atmosphere today is so much saturated with poison 
that one refuses to recollect the wisdom of the ancients and to 
perceive the varied little experiences of ahimsa in action. “A bad 
turn is neutralized by a good”, is a wise saying of daily ex- 
perience in practice. Why can we not see that if the sum-total 
of the world’s activities was destructive, it would have come to 
an end long ago? Love, otherwise ahimsa, sustains this planet of 
ours. 

This much must be admitted. The precious grace of life has 
to be strenuously cultivated, naturally so because it is uplifting. 
Descent is easy, not so ascent. A large majority of us being 

* A Gujarati version of this appeared in Harijanbandhu, 14-12-1947. 

^ Pritam 


195 



196 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


undisciplined, our daily experience is that of fighting or swearing 
at one another on the slightest pretext. 

This, the richest grace of ahimsa, will descend easily upon 
the owner of hard discipline. 

New Delhi, December 8, 1947 
Harijan, 14-12-1947 

166. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 

New Delhi, 
Silence Day, December 8, 1947 

A Muslim organization has cautioned me against taking at 
face value anything said to me whether by a Hindu or a Muslim 
and making it the basis of an argument. It suggests that I had 
better investigate the matter first and then decide what to do and 
it adds that I should personally visit Kathiawar and see things 
for myself. I have already said that this is a thing I cannot at 
present undertake. I should do what I can remaining in and 
around Delhi. Those who offer me advice forget that so far it 
has been possible to have the charges withdrawn. When one 
wants to arrive at the truth for the sake of the truth, the result 
is always good. This has been repeatedly tried. In such matters 
patience and perseverance are of the utmost importance. 

I keep receiving letters from Sind. There is one from Karachi 
which says: “There are no killings but Hindus cannot live here 
with honour and dignity. The Muslims who have gone there 
from India can enter any Hindu homes at will and announce 
their intention to stay there. They have no authority, but we 
dare not say no to them. There had been innumerable incidents of 
this kind. The Karachi of a few months ago has become a thing 
of dreams.” This is the substance of the letter which is very long. 
What the letter says can, I feel, be believed. It means that there 
is total anarchy there. This is the way of killing people slowly. 
There is also such a thing as killing souls. I appeal to Pakistan to 
stop this lawlessness. It is a disease and the sooner it is got rid 
of the better. 

Sugar has been decontrolled. Cereals, pulses and cloth will 
soon be decontrolled. The purpose of decontrol is not to bring 
down the prices all at once. The purpose for the present is to 

* As Gandhiji was observing silence, his written speech was read out 
at the prayer meeting. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


197 


make our life natural. Controls imposed from above are always 
bad. In our country, this is especially so because we have a vast 
population spread over a country 1,900 miles long and 1,500 
miles broad. I do not take count of Pakistan here. We are not 
a martial nation. We produced, or at any rate we can produce, 
our own food and enough cotton for our requirements. When 
controls are lifted people will have a feeling of freedom and they 
will also have the right to make mistakes. This is an age-old 
way of making progress — to advance by making mistakes and recti- 
fying them. If you keep a child wrapped up in cottonwool it 
will die or become stunted. If you want to see him grow into a 
strong man you will have to train him to stand every kind of 
weather. Similarly if the Government deserves to be called a gov- 
ernment it must teach people how to face shortages. It must teach 
them to weather bad times by united effort. It is no good helping 
them somehow to keep alive without their having to work for it. 

Viewed thus, decontrol means that instead of merely a few 
people in the Government the millions have to learn to be far- 
sighted. The Government will have to assume fresh responsibilities 
on behalf of the people so that it can discharge its obligation to- 
wards them. It would have to improve transport. It would have 
to teach people ways of improving the yield. In this matter the 
Food Ministry will have to pay more attention to small farmers 
than to big landlords. The Government thus has on the one hand 
to trust the people as a whole and keep a watch on their occupa- 
tions and on the other to keep in mind the interest of the small 
farmers. So far no attention has been paid to them and yet a 
large majority of the population consists of them. The peasant 
himself consumes what he grows. He sells his small surplus in order 
to buy the other necessities of life. One consequence of controls 
was that the peasant could realize only a very low price from the 
market for his produce. Therefore in so far as the peasant gets 
a higher price for foodgrain the price of foodgrain will increase. 
The consumer should not mind that. The Government will have 
to see that any benefit from the rise in prices under the new 
arrangement goes wholly to the farmer. This will have to be 
explained to the people every day or at least every week. Millers 
and all kinds of middlemen will have to co-operate with the 
Government and work under its direction. 

I think this is being done. All these various persons and or- 
ganizations should work in full concord and in full co-operation. 
So far they have always exploited the poor. The rivalry that has so 
marked their attitude to each other should go. Especially in the 



198 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


matter of food and cloth no one should work for the sake of 
profit. If decontrol leads to traders making larger profits, then the 
purpose of decontrol will be defeated. Let us hope that capitalists 
and businessmen will offer full co-operation. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy; All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 182-5 


167. LETTER TO ISMAT lETIKHAR-UD-DIN 

New Delhi, 

December 9, 1947 

MY DEAR ISMAT’, 

I was sorry that you were so ill and glad to hear that you 
were better. You should get quite well quickly, so as to do the 
very necessary work of reclaiming the poor abducted women in 
both the parts of the Punjab. 

Tell Iftikhar^ it was naughty of him to cease to write to 
me after his transfer of loyalty. 

Bapu 

Begum Iftikhar-ud-din 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


168. LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI 

December 9, 1947 

CHI. JIVANJI, 

I have not been able to write much this time. Still enough 
is being dispatched. There are two copies of each item. 

The Hindustani will be completed by Sushila by this evening 
and will, therefore, be dispatched tomorrow. That is what was 
done last week, too. 

1 understand why some articles were left out. Nobody on 
that side is to be blamed. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 6962. Courtesy: Jivanji D. Desai. 

Also G. N. 9988 

* Wife of Mian Iftikhar-ud-din 

2 President, Punjab Provincial Congress Committee; left Congress in 1946 
and joined the Muslim League; Minister of Rehabilitation in Pakistan till 
November, 1947; President, Punjab Muslim League, 1950; on being expelled 
from it founded the Azad Pakistan Party 



169. LETTER TO A MAULANA 


Birla House, New Delhi, 

December 9, 1947 

MAULANA SAHEB, 

I had a talk with Sardar Patel about the Muslims from 
outside who want to settle in Delhi. He says that he has no 
objection to nationalist Muslims settling in Hazarat Nizamuddin 
if they wish, whatever their number. But he is against bringing 
Muslims from outside, to be rehabilitated in the interior of Delhi 
in houses now evacuated. For, if the Muslims now evacuating 
these houses return, where will they be accommodated? Secondly, 
if Muslims from outside are rehabilitated in these houses the Hindu 
and Sikh refugees who cannot find accommodation are bound to 
object and argue that while they have not been rehabilitated 
outsiders are brought in for settling. The Sardar’ s view seems quite 
right to me. Therefore you may bring the nationalist Muslims 
and help them settle in Hazarat Nizamuddin. These outsiders 
should not be accommodated in the city’s interior. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


170. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 9, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Today I attended a meeting of the Trustees of the A. I. S. A. 
and naturally I had to speak for half an hour to the women. If 
I have the time — for I shall be finishing the speech in 15 minutes 
— I shall tell you about that today. Otherwise I shall do so 
tomorrow. 

You will have seen in the papers today a report saying that 
Sardar Patel and I are going to Pilani. Why? For a change of 
air. It is a mere canard. I do not know what the Sardar has in 
mind but I certainly know that this is not the time to seek a 
change of air. The Sardar works all day long and rests at night 
and that is all the change of air he gets. The same applies to me. 

199 



200 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

It is true that I am not so overworked because I do not have to 
run a government. But I receive many visitors and I get tired. 
Therefore I have to give myself rest. The air is quite congenial 
in Delhi at present and there is no need to go out for a change of 
air. What can Pilani offer? So far as I am concerned I have 
taken a pledge to do or die. I have not fulfilled that pledge. I 
cannot understand why newspapers publish such rumours. I can 
only conclude that a large part of what the newspapers put out 
consists of falsehoods. Then I came to know — though not from 
newspapers — that since we are going there certain directives 
have come from Jaipur about the quantity of sugar, wheat and 
other provisions that we shall be needing. Although we are only 
two persons to be provided for, a scarcity seems to have been 
created in the market. It is of course only hearsay. If true it 
reveals a shocking state of affairs that our movements should 
influence the market. It is as though we lived only in order 
to eat or that we had large retinues following us. This should 
not be so. The Sardar is a poor man, and so am I. It is true 
that he lives in a palatial house; so do I at present. Of course 
the best thing would have been for him and for me to live in a 
mud hut. Anyway, what I was trying to tell you is about the 
way rumours are spread. After all I am available here. They 
might have asked me if I planned to go to Pilani. I now have 
a telegram from the Associated Press in this connection which 
hurts me even more. The Sardar is always busy but they should 
have asked me whether we are going. 

I have a letter from a friend from Sind. He has given his 
name but I shall not disclose it though he would not mind my 
doing so. I had told you about a letter from a doctor in Sind 
who had reported the hardships of the Sind Harijans.^ The doctor 
has been arrested. Whether he was arrested because he wrote to 
me or for some other reason I do not know. Many persons who 
served Harijans have been arrested. This is the kind of thing that 
is happening in Sind. I admit that people are not being murdered, 
but as I told you yesterday this is worse than murder. When 
you murder a man he is dead and everyone then puts up with 
the fact, but to harass people and kill them by inches is much 
worse. A man was arrested and then released — maybe they will 
release others too. But it is bad to arrest people like this. I do 
not wish to make accusations against the Pakistan Government 
but I must warn them that if they keep arresting Harijan workers 


• Vide pp. 168-9. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


201 


in this way it will be impossible for the workers to continue to stay 
in Sind. The same is true of Harijans. This sort of thing was 
common during the British rule. Must we continue the same 
practice ? 

I still have a few minutes, so I shall tell you about another 
matter, viz., about the women. The Kasturba Memorial Trust 
has been set up because there are 700,000 villages in India and 
women and children living in them must be served. But there 
is a larger issue confronting us; a large number of Hindu and 
Sikh women have been abducted by Muslims and an equally 
large number of Muslim women have been abducted by Hindus 
and Sikhs. Leave aside the question which community has abduct- 
ed more women. In any case under each of the two Governments 
no less than 12,000 women and girls have been abducted. What is 
the Kasturba Trust to do? I shall do what lies in my power. 
One thing is obvious, that we cannot take up this work to adver- 
tise ourselves. Those who are public servants have to do the 
work of service. Once the work is over there is an end to it. It is 
of no importance whether the matter is reported in the news- 
papers or not. Again, we have to consider the various things that 
should be done for women. I can suggest a few things. Most 
women workers we have are from the cities. We could find a few 
in villages and even these had some connection with cities. I do 
not say that it is bad, that it is wrong to have anything to do 
with cities. But for the last 150 years the trend has been for 
cities to exist only to squeeze wealth out of the villages. They 
took raw material from the villages, carried on trade with 
foreign countries and made crores of rupees. This money did 
not go to the villagers, or only a very small fraction of it did. 
The bulk of it went to millionaires and the mill-owners. Towns 
exist to exploit the villages. The city culture does not therefore 
fit into the framework of villages. A woman worker from a town 
should not carry to the villages the atmosphere and the ways of 
towns. Maybe she has a lot of money and articles of luxury. 
Maybe she has a motor car, cosmetics, dresses of velvet and 
toothpastes, foreign or indigenous, tooth brushes, dainty shoes 
and sandals. If she takes all these things along with her, how can 
she serve the villages ? If with these things she sets the standard for 
the villagers they will devour the villages. The cities should be 
for increasing the prosperity of the villages, for making money 
available to them for developing the village culture. But what is 
happening is the very opposite of this. I cannot explain to you 
everything. All I have to say is that the women workers who 



202 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


truly want to serve, not to exploit, must have a sense of pro- 
priety and take to the villages only the things that it would be 
appropriate to take. Such reforms as they wish to introduce must 
be in conformity with the genius of the villages. If that happens 
our seven lakh villages which today are in a sunken state can come 
up. The villages are not inhabited by uncivilized people with no 
art and nothing good to show in life. There is much beauty 
in the villages. There is much art and there are industries that 
the whole world knows about. Village crafts have been appre- 
ciated all over the world. Therefore the women workers who 
would serve villages must leave behind the things associated with 
city-life. They should take with them only what is good and 
moral. Then alone can they help in the uplift of the millions of 
our women and children. This much at any rate let us do. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 185-8 


171. QUESTION BOX 

Q. Why does Gandhiji resort to a fast when he faces extreme difficulties? 
What is the effect of this action on the life of the public of India? 

A. Such a question has been put to me before but never, 
perhaps, precisely in the same terms. The answer, however, is 
easy. It is the last weapon in the armoury of the votary of 
ahimsa. When human ingenuity fails, the votary fasts. This fast- 
ing quickens the spirit of prayer, that is to say, the fasting is a 
spiritual act and, therefore, addressed to God. The effect of such 
action on the life of the people is that when the person fasting 
is at all known to them their sleeping conscience is awakened. 
But there is the danger that the people through mistaken sympathy 
may act against their will in order to save the life of the loved 
one. This danger has got to be faced. One ought not to be de- 
terred from right action when one is sure of the rightness. It can 
but promote circumspection. Such a fast is undertaken in obe- 
dience to the dictates of the inner voice and, therefore, prevents 
haste. 

New Delhi, December 10, 1947 
Harijan, 21-12-1947 



172. ITS DEEP ROOTS 


A correspondent writes to the effect that: 

Even after independence, the hold of the English lan- 
guage on the city people does not seem to have relaxed to 
any appreciable extent. In proof of his statement he cites 
the Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition held in Bombay, 
at which the opener’s speech was in English, the signboards 
were painted in English and the correspondence for the 
most part was conducted in English. The ration cards are in 
English, much to the annoyance of the general public, who 
cannot read English. Our leaders feel that their important 
pronouncements must be made in English without the slight- 
est regard for the poor public. 

This is a just complaint, demanding peremptory redress. The 
unfortunate inertia has to be thrown out before a visible change 
for the better takes place in this important matter. 

New Delhi, December 10, 1947 
Harijan, 21-12-1947 

173. DISCUSSION WITH H. S. SUHR AWARD T 

^December 10, 1947Y 

You must know that the people here and even in a greater 
measure the members of the Union Government do not have that 
trust in you that I have. They tell me that you are fooling me, 
that in Calcutta you hung on my words because the Muslims 
were in peril but here things are different and so are you. If 
you wish to remove their distrust and suspicion, you must have 
the courage plainly to tell Jinnah and Liaquat Ali that they 
must adopt a uniform policy with the Indian Union in regard to 
the recovery of the abducted women and other matters pertaining 
to the minorities. Similarly, you must ascertain the truth about 
what is said to be happening in Karachi and ask Jinnah how it 

* This appeared under “Notes”, a Hindi version of which appeared in 
Harijan Sevak, 21-12-1947. 

^ From Dilhiman Gandhiji — II 


203 



204 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


comports with his declaration that the minorities in Pakistan 
would be fully protected. And if you cut no ice with them, 
you must, as a Muslim and an Indian national, issue a statement 
disapproving of Pakistan’s policy in unequivocal terms. Thereby 
you will serve both India and Pakistan.* 

Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, pp. 525-6 


174. TALK WITH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 

Birla House, New Delhi, 

December 10, 1947 

Students, parents and teachers should all become proficient 
in crafts. Only by imparting education through crafts can India 
stand before the world. Just as there are laboratories in schools, 
our kitchens should be our laboratories. For instance germinated 
pulses are rich in vitamins, but when we cook them with spices 
all the vitamins are destroyed. How much heat and how much 
time will food require to cook so that it is easily digested and 
also preserves vitamins ? How much food in calories will a child, 
a student, a grown-up man, a moneyed man, a worker or a com- 
mon man require? How much ghee, oil, milk or grain should 
one consume? If all this is taught to the students while cook- 
ing, they would become experts in the science of nutrition. 

There is similarly a science in the charkha as also in nursing 
the sick. Today boys of twenty become graduates and can speak a 
foreign language as fluently as their mother tongue. Although 
history, geography, arithmetic, geometry, Sanskrit, etc., are taught 
through a foreign language they pass the examinations. This 
shows that our boys are not dull or incompetent. I tell you that 
no English or other foreign students can speak Hindustani or 
Gujarati however hard they may try, as fluently as our students can 
speak English. I know of many Englishmen who have been here for 
years and who have been trying to learn Hindi and yet even now 
they cannot pronounce the word 3 n[you], they pronounce it 5*1. 
Look at Mirabehn. No one could be more hard-working. She 
resents it if she is introduced as an English woman. She lives and 

* A group of local Muslims called on Gandhiji soon after. He gave 
them similar advice that they should set forth their views in a public state- 
ment if they felt that the minorities in Pakistan were not getting a fair deal 
and boldly and unequivocally say that this was a disgrace to Pakistan and 
a stigma on Islam. 



TALK WITH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 


205 


serves as a daughter of India. She still cannot properly pro- 
nounce the sound ‘ti’ of Hindustani. But we must not be content 
with getting degrees in English. We must learn hygiene, chemistry, 
economics, etc. And that not through books but through crafts. 
Students should diligently acquire knowledge. When there is know- 
ledge to be found in cooking, in disease, in recreations, what 
need is there to pore over books? If you take chillies in excess 
you will get dysentery. So from this we can gain knowledge about 
the cause of dysentery. Thus we can make experiments on our- 
selves and gain knowledge from our experiences. This knowledge 
is permanent. Why need one cram the dates of Lord Curzon’s 
birth and death? And if, even after cramming them, one for- 
gets them at the examination one’s parents will have wasted the 
fee money. Of course if one wants to study these dates because 
of interest in them, that is a different matter. But today we do 
not need such education. If therefore the flame of freedom is to 
be lighted in India the very first need is a revolution in edu- 
cation. After all, students are the real wealth of the country. 
Teachers, in so far as they mould the students, are the silent ser- 
vants of the country. Their profession not only earns them their 
bread but is also one of service. But today we neglect those we call 
teachers. Parents must take an active interest in teachers. Parents 
commit a grave sin when they address teachers disrespectfully. 
The teachers can impart no enlightenment to students till we 
learn to show towards them the same respect that we show to 
the priest in the temple or to our spiritual preceptor. And if the 
students are not enlightened we may be certain the country 
will remain enveloped in darkness. Today all this seems a fond 
hope. We fought the English for so long. People used to make fun 
of us and ask if we thought we would get freedom by going 
to jail and by being flogged. But I had the firm conviction that 
freedom would come through that path alone and no other. 
Similarly while today the cloud of hatred and enmity darkens 
the relations between brother and brother, we cannot find a way 
to happiness because of our ignorance. Ignorance has render- 
ed us blind. It is our misfortune that we are unable to see what 
is clear as day. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 71-4 



175. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 10, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Yesterday I told you that I attended the meeting of the A. L- 
S. A. and addressed a few words to the women. Today again I had 
to go to a meeting of the Talimi Sangh. But maybe I shall have 
to leave that out for today. I must speak today of the A. I. S. A. 
You know what the Spinners’ Association is. It carries on khadi 
activity which is centred round the charkha. First, the cotton has 
to be ginned, carded, made into slivers, and then spun and woven. 
If the hundreds of millions of people in India take to this work 
— it is easy, we can even teach it to children — all the expendi- 
ture on cloth can be saved. If cloth is thus manufactured in vil- 
lages it becomes almost free. And if cotton is grown in the villages 
the saving would be twice as much, for we would have to spend 
nothing on cloth and we could also benefit from the craft and 
prosper. I therefore feel that if we do not behave foolishly there 
should be no dearth of cloth in our country. There should be 
no dearth even if there is not a single textile mill left in India. 
Today we have to look up to the mills. We have forgotten the 
charkha and khadi. People do certainly sport khadi caps because 
they have got used to it, having worn it during the struggle for 
freedom. But one feels sad that khadi is not a living thing in 
our lives. The Spinners’ Association has been working for 
many years. It has disbursed crores of rupees and yet we are 
where we were. This is a matter to be pondered over. The charkha 
teaches us ahimsa. If everybody took up the charkha the villages 
would become prosperous and would not present the depressing 
spectacle they do today. During the discussion at the meeting, 
it was shown how, through the charkha and khadi, the short- 
age in cloth could be made good and crores of rupees could be 
given to the villagers, not in cash but in the saving that would 
be effected from not having to buy mill-cloth. It may be said 
that in manufacturing khadi we would have to pay for the cot- 
ton. But the price of cotton would be very little. If we use all 
the cotton that is today produced, it should be enough. But 
the Government gives all the facilities to the mills. It is more 

206 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


207 


concerned for the capitalists than for the farmers. It is a painful 
fact. I am not against capitalists, I am myself staying in the 
house of a capitalist. But I know the attitude that the capitalists 
have adopted. The Government may say that they do everything 
for the poor. But even the British used to say it. The truth 
is that the interests of the poor are not served. The Government 
should humbly accept this. It is easy to say that the poor should 
be helped. Let the ministers decide to go and live in the vil- 
lages. If they are true socialists — and if I have my way I would 
make them behave so — if they are true servants of the poor, 
not only of the workers but of the peasants who are more nume- 
rous, if they want to uplift the people, I would tell them that 
they should only wear khadi. There is nothing to prevent 
them from producing their own khadi at home. I will tell the 
people what they are doing. Ever since I came here I have been 
saying this but have been able to achieve nothing. All that I 
have managed to get is a few crores of rupees for the villages. 
But what I want is that the music of the charkha should be 
heard in every home and no cloth except khadi should be seen 
anywhere. If this happened the poverty prevailing in the villages 
would disappear. That it has not so far happened is our misfortune. 

One cannot say that in other respects things are going on 
well here. There are speeches being made — I shall not name the 
speakers because full particulars are still lacking — that the few 
Muslims still remaining here will not be allowed to stay on, 
that the mosques still standing will be taken over to house Hindus. 
What else will happen only God knows. I think that if the 
Hindus occupied the mosques it would be the end of Hinduism. 
So much for Delhi. 

Something about Ajmer has come to our notice. And it is 
the same story there. I have visited the town many times. It 
has Muslims and Hindus in large numbers. There is an impor- 
tant Muslim shrine’ there. It is also visited by Hindus and 
thus the two have been living in amity. They are one not in 
religion but in their ways of life. Not that there were no 
quarrels between the two communities but today the rioting has 
been much more serious. It seems from what little has appeared in 
the newspapers that a large number of Muslims have been killed. 
There was first a scare among the Muslims and those who could 
ran away leaving a few behind. Then followed the riots. I under- 
stand that is what is happening in the villages all around. I 


Of Hazarat Moinuddin Chishti 



208 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


shall talk to you again after I have full particulars. All I say is 
that it is a shameful alfair. Let us pray to God to give us the 
wisdom not to destroy Hinduism by our conduct. It cannot do 
any good to destroy Hinduism in the process of killing Muslims. 
If we wish to live we must let live. Man was not made by God to 
live through killing others. It must not be allowed to happen 
that the Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan and Muslims in India 
are killed and the rest become slaves. We are inviting our 
own destruction. There is a saying in Sanskrit: “A man loses 
his reason when he is to be destroyed.”^ Our minds have become 
perverse. The cries of “kill, slaughter, drive out the Muslims”, 
are a sign of our having lost our reason. There are many other 
things I want to say but I have not the time, having resolved 
not to speak for more than 15 minutes. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 189-92 

176. WHO SHOULD BE PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS?^ 

The following is a free translation of Principal Shriman 
Narayan Agrawal’s letter in Hindustani from Wardha: 

In the Gonstitution that is being framed by the Gon- 
stituent Assembly, there is to be provision for the election of 
provincial Governors by the majority of voters under the 
adult franchise system. From this one is entitled to infer that, 
as a rule, the nominees of the Gongress Parliamentary Board 
will be elected. The Chief Minister of the province will also 
be of the Gongress party. Common sense dictates that the pro- 
vincial Governor must be above party politics of the province 
concerned, or above being unduly influenced by the Chief Min- 
ister or above friction between himself and his Chief Minister. 

In my opinion there is no necessity for a Governor. The 
Chief Minister should be able to take his place and people’s 
money to the tune of Rs. 5,500 per month for the sinecure 
of the Governor will be saved. Nevertheless, no provincial 
Governor should belong to his own province. 

Moreover, in this way the expense and worry of an 
election by the majority of the adult population will be saved. 
Will it not be proper and better for the President of the 
Union to select Governors satisfying the reasonable test above 

2 A Hindi version of this appeared in Harijan Sevak, 21-12-1947. 



WHO SHOULD BE PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS? 


209 


suggested? Such Governors will surely raise the tone of the 
public life of the provinces governed by them. It is worthy 
of note that the present Governors have been appointed 
by the Central Cabinet of the Union on the above basis and, 
therefore, their influence on their provinces has been whole- 
some. I fear that if the Governors are elected as threatened 
under the forthcoming Constitution, their influence is likely 
to be unwholesome. 

Further, the Constitution as foreshadowed makes no 
mention of the village panchayat being the foundation of the 
progressive decentralization in the place of the old hunger 
for centralization. There are other such defects which one 
can profitably point out, but I have no right or desire to 
enter into an elaborate criticism of our seasoned leaders. I 
have but ventured to draw your attention to the defects 
which have appeared to me and demand your guidance. 
There is much to be said in favour of the argument advanced 
by Principal Agrawal about the appointment of provincial Gover- 
nors. I must confess that I have not been able to follow the 
proceedings of the Constituent Assembly. I do not know the 
context in which the proposal under discussion has been made. 
But, examined in isolation, the criticism appears irresistible, 
with the exception that much as I would like to spare every pice 
of the public treasury, it would be bad economy to do away with 
provincial Governors and regard Chief Ministers as a perfect 
equivalent. Whilst I would resent much power of interference to 
be given to Governors, I do not think that they should be mere 
figure-heads. They should have enough power enabling them to 
influence ministerial policy for the better. In their detached posi- 
tion they would be able to see things in their proper perspective 
and thus prevent mistakes by their Cabinets. Theirs must be an 
all-pervasive moral influence in their provinces. 

Principal Agrawal says that there is no mention or direction 
about village panchayats and decentralization in the foreshadowed 
Constitution. It is certainly an omission calling for immediate 
attention if our independence is to reflect the people’s voice. 
The greater the power of the panchayats, the better for the people. 
Moreover, panchayats to be effective and efficient, the level of 
people’s education has to be considerably raised. I do not conceive 
the increase in the power of the people in military, but in moral 
terms. Naturally, I swear by Nayee Talim in this connection. 

New Delhi, December 11, 1947 
Harijan, 21-12-1947 


90-14 



177. LETTER TO MANIBHAI B. DESAI 

December 11, 1947 

CHI. MANILAL, 

I got your letter only today. I also got the one sent with 
Dinshaw. I am replying just now to the former. 

It was indeed welcome news to me that Gangabehn' had gone 
there. If she is able to stay on there permanently, nothing could 
be better. But that will of course depend on Purushottam’s^ 
health. 

I will be glad if a primary teachers’ camp is held there. The 
condition that the camp should involve no financial liability is 
only reasonable. 

I hope Balkoba’s fund will be completed. That Dhiru is 
persisting in his effort is not surprising, for it is in his nature. 

If the gentleman sent there by Haribhau Phatak can stay 
there and can be a help to you, that would indeed be fine. 
But his being able to work will depend on his not getting 
fainting fits. 

In view of the decision not to purchase the Ramanama land, 
the plan to purchase some other plot seems all right. Where 
will you find the money for it? 

If the work at Uruli progresses steadily, no matter how slowly, 
I should be very much pleased. 

Your vow of lifelong dedication cannot but produce an echo 
in the hearts of other people. Whatever effect is produced there 
will be the fruit of ahimsa. Without ahimsa village uplift seems 
impossible to me. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 2724. Courtesy: Manibhai B. Desai 


* Wife of Purushottam Bhatt 
^ Purushottam Bhatt 


210 



178. LETTER TO VIJATALAKSHMI PANDIT 


New Delhi, 

December 11, 1947 


CHI. BEHN VIJAYALAKSHMI, 

This letter will be handed over to you by Shri Datar from 
Uruli Kanchan. His son Chi. Madhavrao is blind. Datar has 
read somewhere that they are providing the blind with new eyes 
in Russia. If this is true Datar would like to take Chi. Madhav- 
rao to Russia. If this is feasible do whatever can be done. Datar 
is a man of means and he will be able to bear the necessary 
expenses. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy; Pyarelal 


179. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 11, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

A friend desires that the verses from the Koran we recite 
here should be explained. These verses are ancient. The Koran 
was composed by Mohammed Saheb — it was spoken by him, 
thirteen centuries ago. The extracts from it that we recite are 
considered sublime like our mantras. The very reading of it 
bestows merit on the reader. It is good to know the meaning, 
of course, but even without knowing it a correct recitation itself 
is of great value. I can now explain the substance of it. I do 
not know Arabic or Persian. I do possess a translation, but it 
is not here now. Tomorrow I can provide a literal translation. 
In substance, it is a prayer to God. God is one and the same, 

by whatever name we may call Him. Allah is one of His names. 

Then His attributes are described. He is called Rahim and Rehman 
but He is one God. It is then said that God alone can save us 
from Satan. Satan drags us down and makes us do evil deeds. 
Only God can save us from that fate. Man admits that he on his 

own does not do noble deeds but God prompts him to do so. 

Man is like a drop of water in a sea. If God does not save man 


211 



212 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Satan will devour him. God is great. God is All there is. His 
mercy alone can save us. I should say that however much we 
may recite this prayer, ponder over it and follow its import it 
is not enough. You may ask why in that case Muslims indulge 
in such barbarous behaviour. But then do Christians who have 
made so much progress, who are learned, follow the teachings of 
the Bible? Where are the Christians that live according to the 
Bible? Where are the Hindus who conduct themselves accord- 
ing to the GayatriJ We recite from Ishopaniskad, “All things are 
pervaded by the Lord”, meaning that God is in everything. He 
gives us everything. Whatever a man possesses has been given to 
him by God. We should renounce all and enjoy what we must. 
Nothing is ours. House, property and everything is surrendered 
to God. It is a great thing. Then it is said that we should not be 
envious of others’ riches. We should not covet another’s wealth. 
Let the Hindus but conduct themselves according to this one single 
mantra. Let the whole world thus conduct itself. It is not for the 
Hindus alone. It does not even mention Hindus. Let the Sikhs 
conduct themselves according to the mantra. It is not as if they 
did not believe in it. If everyone conducted himself accordingly 
the tragedy we have been witnessing all around us could not have 
come to pass. Everyone is not wicked, nor is everyone an angel. 
We cannot say that all Sikhs are wicked while all Hindus are 
angels or that all Muslims are angels. 

Another verse is from the Farsi scripture. The first mantra 
in the prayer proclaims obeisance to the Guru.' It is followed by 
other verses in Sanskrit. Then there are bhajans. And yet we 
do not keep our hearts clean. It is a painful thing. 

I had said I would explain to you what was being done in 
the Harijan Colony. But I have to leave it for the present, for there 
are other things to speak of and I have only fifteen minutes. 
Some Muslim friends from the U. P. came to see me today for a 
second time. They told me that they had been to the Punjab 
in Pakistan. They found other Indian Muslims there. They had 
planned to work out with the Muslims there some kind of a com- 
promise which would make things easier here in India. They had 
obtained my permission for the visit. They returned today. They 
said they wanted one thing from me. I should ask the Hindus 
and the Sikhs to return to Lahore. These Muslim friends will 
accompany them. Should it become necessary they will be the first 
to lay down their lives. But that will not be necessary. They have 

' Vide Vol. XLIV, p. 388, verse 7. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


213 


talked to the authorities there. They are willing to rehabilitate the 
non-Muslims there. I asked them to give it to me in writing. It 
is not something that can be done right away. It is a big thing. 
If this can be done a great part of my work will have been ac- 
complished. They said, I should at least test their word. They 
have given to me their views in writing. Their report says: 

The Peace Mission from the U. P. visited West Punjab twice. 
The first visit lasted a month and the second a week. The 
conditions there are much improved. The Government as 
well as the public are trying to re-establish order. It is the 
desire of the West Punjab Government that the non-Muslims 
residing there at present should continue to live there and 
those who have migrated from there should go back to their 
homes. The Government has issued the directive that the 
non-Muslims returning to their homes in West Punjab should 
be given back their rights over their houses and properties 
and given full protection and provided with all the facilities 
they may need. If, notwithstanding all the pleading, some 
non-Muslims do not wish to go back, they will have full 
rights to exchange or sell their properties in any way they 
like. The Government is being very severe with those 
provoking riots and are taking all measures to ensure pro- 
tection to those who may return. The Peace Mission has 
been able to persuade the people and the Government of 
Pakistan to accept the responsibility to protect the honour 
and dignity of non-Muslims. We, the members of the U. P. 
Peace Mission request the non-Muslim brethren from Pakistan 
to go back to West Punjab and settle there. We are willing 
to accompany them on their journey back and will protect 
them at the cost of our own lives. We will return only after 
these non-Muslims are fully assured of their safety. 

This is signed by four persons. It is a very promising deve- 
lopment. The newspapers have put out something quite differ- 
ent but we should not worry about that. There are many refugees 
concentrated in Model Town. In Lahore Hindus and Sikhs have 
large properties. There is also a Gurdwara there. I asked the 
Mission from U. P. if the Sikhs could go back there. They gave 
the assurance that Sikhs could go there. They said it was not 
that people in general had become friends; there was still some 
poison in the air; it could not be removed all at once. But the 
Government had made sure that there would be no more killings. 

It would be a great thing. I had not thought things could 
improve so quickly. I do not know how far this is the case, but 



214 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

let US in our hearts grant the possibility that there are people 
among Muslims who can do this. It would be inhuman to think that 
all Muslims are wicked. There are very good men among them. 
A Hindu friend had accompanied the Muslim friends. He brought 
me a letter. I have not the time to read it out but its substance 
is the same. He runs a large hotel visited daily by about a thou- 
sand persons. A majority of them are perhaps Muslims but cer- 
tainly Hindus also go to the hotel. They find no difficulties in 
their way. He says there is nothing to prevent the Hindu refugees 
from going back there. I will not say that they must go back 
right away. Nor would I say that they should not go. But it 
would be good if they did go back. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 192-6 

180. ADVICE TO DECCAN STATES^ UNION RULERS^ 

New Delhi, 

December 11, 1947 

Gandhiji advised the Rulers to have perfect unity with their people. 
They are trustees of the people and their servants, he added. 

The Bombay Chronicle, 12-12-1947 

181. LETTER TO LORD MOUNTBATTEN 

New Delhi, 

December 11, 1947 

DEAR FRIEND, 

Your promised letter was delivered here at 5.15 p. m. It came 
into my hand after 7 p. m. You have given me more than I had 
expected or wanted. 

Tours sincerely, 
M. K. Gandhi 

H. E. THE G. G. OF Indian Union 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* The Rulers of Sangli, Aundh, Phaltan, Miraj (Senior), Ramdurg and 
representatives of Bhavnagar and other States met Gandhiji in the evening. 



182. DISCUSSION AT CONSTRUCTIVE WORKS 
COMMITTEE MEETING^ 


New Delhi, 

December lljl2, 1947 

j. B. KRiPALANi: This meeting has been convened by the Constructive 
Works Committee of the Congress. The question has been raised what the 
constructive workers should do. 

GANDHiji: The first thing we have to do is to improve our 
national character. No revolution is possible till we build our 
character. The pity is that though swaraj is so recent an achieve- 
ment, there is already a slackness in constructive efforts. I know 
there are a few difficulties. Government help also may not be 
forthcoming at places. But the Congress has always been in our 
hands. And if you will only make an effort the Government too 
will remain in our hands. 

q^uestion: Should constructive workers take part in politics? 

GANDHIJI : I have answered this question many times before. 

I repeat my answer: leave politics to Rajendra Babu, Jawaharlal 

and Vallabhbhai. You confine yourselves to constructive work. 

It is difficult to answer the question why constructive work 
is making so little headway, though the Congress has sworn adher- 
ence to it for years and men like Jawaharlal, Rajendra Babu 
and Vallabhbhai are at the helm of affairs. All the Sanghs, 
except the Harijan Sevak Sangh, were brought into being by 
the Congress. Why is it then that the workers of these Sanghs 
lack the power to make the Government go the whole hog with 
them? No douht, the fault lies with us, the constructive work- 
ers. We had faith in constructive work, but our faith was not 
deep or enlightened enough to illumine our intellect and so our 
growth has been lop-sided. The criticism levelled against the 

* The versions available in Mahatma and Mahatma Gandhi — The Last 
Phase have been collated with the Hindi version in Dilhiman Gandhiji. 

Congress workers, including Shankarrao Deo and R. R. Diwakar, had 
posed the question whether it would not be better in view of the halting 
policy pursued by the Government, to form themselves into a separate body 
and go into the Government for the furtherance of the constructive prog- 
ramme. 


215 



216 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

constructive workers is that they are generally lacking in imagina- 
tion and intellect. Our intelligentsia are not lacking in sympathy. 
Reason, as a rule, follows in the footsteps of feeling. But we 
have not sufficiently penetrated the hearts of the intelligentsia to 
convince their reason. 

This is my analysis of the situation. There should be rapport 
between the constructive workers and the institution. We must 
first purify ourselves. The Congress has always had the con- 
structive programme. Now it has the power. Why is it then 

that our work is not progressing? It may be that we have no 
heart. Because if we were endowed with a heart we would have 
been sensitive to the pain of others. Moreover, a person may 

be in sympathy with one in distress and still may not be of any 

help to him. But our minds have not opened. Many eminent 
people who are in politics have had this experience. I have had 
a hand in the formation of all these various institutions, and I 
can say that things are in such a state because our hearts are not 
pure. A current was generated. The people caught on to the 
idea that that was the way to overcome the British. Villagers too 
flocked to us in ever larger numbers. It gladdened us that there 
was such awakening in the country. But in the forefront were 
intellectuals. And the result was that the freedom that came was 
not true freedom. The fight being over, our interest in the con- 
structive programme waned. Constructive work is not a strategy 
or a technique of fighting. Constructive work connotes a way 
of fife. It can be carried on only by men who have adopted 
it by the heart as well as by the intellect. 

Kumarappa^ pointed out that our way of life would be 
determined by what we do. Then the Sangh^ came to be 
formed, in which the Congress helped. The Congress lent the 
constructive workers’ Sanghs its name and also gave them the 
charter to function. But the Congressmen failed to come up to 
the scratch and to shoulder the burden. Such is our bankruptcy. 
If the Sanghs could come together and could work under the 
direction of a jointly chosen representative, it would mark a 
big step forward. To set our own house in order is the first 
indispensable requisite, if we want to influence political power. If 
all the Sanghs gave a good account of themselves, worked unitedly 
and in co-operation, without a jar or jolt, it would be a grand 
thing. But they must not do it for the sake of popularity, nor 

^ J. C. Kumarappa 

^ All India Village Industries Association 



DISCUSSION AT CONSTRUCTIVE WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING 217 


hanker after political power, even in their dreams. Soon we shall 
have adult suffrage. That is a good thing. But to regard adult 
suffrage as a means of capturing political power, would be to put 
it to corrupt use. 

The objective of the constructive works organizations is to 
generate political power. But if we say that political power 
having come, it must be ours as a price for our labours, it would 
degrade us and spell our ruin. Take the case of the Charkha 
Sangh. It has the largest membership of all the Sanghs. But we 
have never endeavoured to get its members enrolled on the voters’ 
list. It was suggested at one time that we should get their names 
enrolled on the Congress register. I opposed it. “Do we want 
to capture the Congress?”, I asked. That would be tantamount to 
killing it. The Congress can be ours only by right of service. 
Today we have our own Government. Under adult suffrage, if 
we are worth our salt, we should indeed have that hold upon 
the people that whomsoever we might choose, should be returned. 
In Sevagram I deprecated the proposal of our people enrolling 
themselves as voters. What actually happened was that the people 
from the village came and sought our advice as to whom they 
should give their vote, because they knew that we were their 
true servants and had no axe to grind. 

Today politics has become corrupt. Anybody who goes into 
politics gets contaminated. Let us keep out of it altogether. Our 
influence will grow thereby. The greater our inner purity, the 
greater shall be our hold on the people, without any effort on 
our part. 

My eyes have now been opened. I see that what we prac- 
tised during the fight with the British under the name of non- 
violence, was not really non-violence. God had purposely sealed 
my eyes, as He wanted to accomplish His great purpose through 
me. That purpose being accomplished. He has restored to me my 
sight. Now I can see with open eyes what is to be done. I have 
been learning the art for so many years. Maybe I have got the 
technique. If I make a mistake I rectify it. I therefore say that 
there is no need for us to consult the Government. They went 
as far as they could. 

Has what I am doing today penetrated your hearts? Then 
you should have the strength to remove corruption, wheresoever it 
may be. You have met here as the constructive wing of the 
Gongress. For that you need not get into any committee. Your 
work is among the masses. The Gonstituent Assembly is today 
forging the Constitution. Do not bother about making changes 



218 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


in it. Shriman Narayan Agrawal has written to me that in the 
Constitution that is being framed now, there is no mention of 
gram panchayat, whereas the Congressmen have always said that 
the gram panchayat must be the foundation of our future polity. 
We have to resuscitate the village, make it prosperous and give 
it more education and more power. What good will the Con- 
stitution be if the village does not find its due place in it ? What 
Shriman Narayan Agrawal says, appeals to me. But we must 
recognize the fact that the social order of our dreams cannot come 
through the Congress of today. Nobody knows what shape the 
Constitution will ultimately take. I say, leave it to those who 
are labouring at it. Let the constructive workers consolidate their 
strength, and the way to do it is through the unification of the 
various constructive works organizations. And if we cannot do 
that, let each Sangh continue on its way and develop its strength 
as best as it can, making intelligence more and more the hall- 
mark of all its activity. The Charkha Sangh is the biggest 
Sangh. It has funds. It is pursuing the policy of decentralization. 
I am not unaware of its perils and its difficulties. We have to 
create a superior, more advanced type of khadi worker. Not 
till then, shall Panchayat Raj become a reality. The workers of 
the Charkha Sangh are not there merely to earn a living for them- 
selves or merely to distribute some wages to the spinners and 
weavers, etc., by way of poor relief. The only goal worthy of 
their ambition is to create a non-violent order of society. But, 
in this they have not made much headway. If our khadi workers 
are there for wages only, then we had better bid good-bye to the 
dream of realizing a non-violent social order. The success will 
depend on our uttermost purity. Impatience would be fatal. 

We are today rather poor. But this poverty does not discourage 
me. Only now we are coming to realize that all our workers are 
from cities. They do not even know what non-violence is. When 
a woman gives me yarn she does it for money. But why does she 
covet money ? The root cause is poverty. It is that root we have 
to destroy. Where is khadi today? The people who wear khadi 
do so to gain political ends. There is no credit in it. Our work 
may be slow but we can generate great strength through it. Let 
us forget about the Congress Constitution, because even after the 
Constitution has been given shape our work must go on. We 
have to pursue our ends in a different way. You must not suc- 
cumb to the desire to become ministers. 

The really poor villager is haunted by the spectre of desti- 
tution. He cannot see beyond the satisfaction of his primary 



DISCUSSION AT CONSTRUCTIVE WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING 219 


needs. The villager does not understand non-violence, nor do I talk 
to him of it, but I try only to see that he becomes a good spin- 
ner and gets a fair minimum subsistence wage. I do not mind 
if the volume of our work is small, so long as it is solid. Consti- 
tution-making will be over in a few months. What next? The 
responsibility of working it and making a success of it will rest 
on you. Suppose you get a constitution after your heart, but it 
does not work. After five years, someone will say: ‘You had 

your innings, now give us a chance.’ You will have to give in 
and they may try to seize power, set up a dictatorship and stran- 
gulate the Congress. Per contra, suppose you do not assume power 
but gain hold on the public, you will be able to return at the 
polls whomsoever you may wish. Forget membership so long 
as the voters are in your hand. Think of the root and take care of 
it as much as you can, and make self-purification the sole crite- 
rion. Even a handful imbued with this spirit will be able to trans- 
form the atmosphere. The people will soon perceive the change 
and they will not be slow to respond to it. Yours is an uphill 
and difficult task but it is full of rich promise. 

Ciuestion: The people are with us, but the Government obstruct our 
effort. What are we to do? 

GANDHiji: If the people are with you, the Government are 
bound to respond. If they do not, they will be set aside and 
another installed in their place. Even in the days of Lord Wavell, 
I used to tell the people that they did not know their own 
strength, or they could get Lord Wavell removed at will. When 
the British saw that he would rule over us only by martial law, 
they removed him. It is a tribute to the British, for they could 
very well have imposed martial law. 

question: Should there not be an over-all organization, which would 
include and co-ordinate all the Sanghs’ activities? 

GANDHiji: A separate organization is not necessary for that 
purpose. What is needed is co-ordination of the work of the 
Sanghs. The various Sanghs have worked separately and inde- 
pendently of one another till now. We tried to set up a co-ordi- 
nating committee for the purpose of samagra gram seva, but it 
did not work. If we all unite, we shall function like the depart- 
ments of the Central Government. For instance, why should 
there be separate stores and sales depots for the Spinners’ Asso- 
ciation and the Village Industries Association? Why could not 
the machinery of the Spinners’ Association be available for fur- 
thering the activities of both? The members of the Charkha 



220 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

Sangh will do the work of the Gram Udyog too. There is the 
question of the sale of tad gur. Why should not the Charkha Sangh 
take it over? Our workers’ children have to be educated. Shall 
we build a separate school for them? Is that not the function of 
the Talimi Sangh? If we will not co-operate even in such matters, 
it will show that we have not understood how ahimsa works. 
The central body will lay down the general lines of policy which 
all the Sanghs will follow. If we are determined and pledge 
ourselves to ‘do or die’, we are bound to succeed. 

ARYANAYAKUM : Let the Presidents and Secretaries of the various Sanghs 
meet first in a preliminary informal conference and, after discussion, place 
before Gandhiji the implication and difficulties of unification. 

SHANKARRAO DEO : This is not the right way to go about it. The work- 
ers should meet first. A gathering of the Presidents and the Secretaries will 
not have the requisite atmosphere. It is a narrow and subjective approach. 

gandhiji: It is neither narrow, nor subjective. The workers’ 
conference can follow, not precede. The Charkha Sangh has 
its Board; Jajuji^ must consult it first. The average worker will 
not even understand. 

SHANKARRAO DEO : We have a number of intelligent workers, let them 
be called. 

gandhiji: We seem to be talking at cross purposes. The dis- 
cussion that I have proposed, involves technical matters. It needs 
specialists. The general workers will feel themselves at sea in such 
a discussion. Let the props and pillars unite. All will then feel 
the glow of strength. Forget me. Dr. Zakir Husain is a great 
organizer. He has suggested that just now nothing should be 
decided under the spell of my presence. And, therefore, he has 
recommended that the matter be taken up later at Sevagram. I 
like it. The atmosphere at Sevagram would be calmer and free 
from the communal virus. When I came here, I did know that I 
would have to speak on these things. I was told that in the 
Constitution Committee of the Congress there were some con- 
structive workers; how could they make their influence felt in the 
Congress? I had come to tell you that you must not expect to 
get the Constitution you desire through the Congress. Nor need 
that worry you. It should be enough if the Constitution you get 
does not actually stand in the way of constructive effort. The 
second thing I had come to tell you was that the various Sanghs 
should become the research laboratories in their respective fields. 
Our constructive works institutions are not democracies, but they 


1 Shrikrishnadas Jaju 



DISCUSSION AT CONSTRUCTIVE WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING 221 


are the instruments for the building up of democracy. The Con- 
gress has lent us its name and its prestige and, in return, it derives 
prestige from us for the service which, as its true servants, we 
render. The connection of the constructive works organizations 
with the Congress is spiritual. It can be severed at any moment. 
As specialists we should be able to tender to the Congress our 
advice on what needs to be done. 

question: Why cannot we get it done through the Congress? 

GANDHiji: Because the Congressmen are not sufficiently 
interested in constructive work. If they were, it should not have 
been necessary for us to meet here. 

question: That being the Congressmen’s psychology, what is the use 
of giving place to the constructive works organizations in the Congress Consti- 
tution ? 

GANDHiji: Because the Constitution moulds the psychology 
of the people. People may not do the things they believe, but 
then it should be our duty to see that through our neglect our 
case does not go by default. 

question: Labour is represented in the Assembly through their repre- 

sentatives. There are special seats reserved for universities. Why should not 
constructive workers’ organizations have their functional representatives in 
the A. I. C. C., who would act in the general way, too? 

GANDHiji: No, surely not the mixture. Functional is all 
right. But in general there is so much corruption today, that 
it frightens me. Everybody wants to carry a lot of votes in his 
pockets, because the votes give power. Under adult suffrage, 
anybody who is eligible has a vote. Let all such members of the 
various Sanghs form themselves into one body and let the Cong- 
ress Working Committee and the A. I. C. C. take from among 
them their nominees, to advise and to guide them in matters and 
policies pertaining to constructive work. There are many labour 
organizations in the country. There is the Ahmedabad Labour 
Union, the Charkha Sangh, the Goseva Sangh, the Chamber of 
Commerce and so on. The Congress claims to represent them all. 
The Congress, of course, claims to represent the Princes too. But 
I would not ask you to include the Chamber of Princes in your 
scheme. Take all the living organizations with you. Purify your- 
selves of all dross. Banish the very idea of capture of power and 
keep it on the right path. Therein lies salvation. There is no 
other way. 

Mahatma, Vol. VIII, pp. 279-85, Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, 
pp. 661-6, and Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 80-5 



183. DISCUSSION AT HINDUSTANI TALIMI SANGH 
MEETING^ 


December 11112, 1947'^ 

There were some workers, who were worried at the paradox free India 
Government presented. The Congress had sworn adherence to the construc- 
tive programme for years, while it was in the wilderness. But having come 
into power, it showed signs of giving it the go-by. Was not the remedy 
for those who had faith in the constructive work to enter the Government 
and use it for the purpose of building up a non-violent social order ? Gandhiji 
was opposed to it, but he held that the purpose could be achieved if 
the various organizations which he had founded for carrying on constructive 
work came up to the standard which he had set for them. And as a prepa- 
ratory step to the discharge of that role, he recommended the unification 
and co-ordination of those organizations into one body. He placed the onus 
of the transformation on the shoulders of the Hindustani Talimi Sangh. It 
should be easy for them to do that if Nayee Talim was what he had envi- 
saged it to be. What he had proposed was only a part of adult education. 

The Nayee Talim is today on its trial. It has either to trans- 
form the prevailing atmosphere, or perish in the attempt. 

There is one section in the country today in our midst which 
holds that the Hindus and Muslims cannot coexist, that either the 
Muslims should get out of Hindustan or they should live here as 
the vassals of the Hindus. And similarly, in Pakistan, only the 
Muslims should remain. It is a poisonous doctrine and in it lies 
the root of Pakistan. Pakistan has come into being; their dream 
has vanished but the virus has remained. I have pledged myself 
to resist this doctrine and to do or die in the attempt. But to 
correct the wrong psychology of the people is the function of 
Nayee Talim. 

Dr. Zakir Husain said that while in principle what Gandhiji had stated 
was unexceptionable, still there was need to hasten slowly. Things had changed 
considerably after independence. Everybody felt the urge and impatience 
to make new and daring experiments and the need for an absolutely free 
hand. If the merger resulted in maladjustment, it might retard, instead of 
helping progress. 

* The two-day session was presided over by Zakir Husain. 

^ From The Hindustan Times, 13-12-1947 


222 



DISCUSSION AT HINDUSTANI TALIMI SANGH MEETING 


223 


A suggestion was then made that they might function as the separate 
branches of a tree that have sprung from a common trunk and a reference 
was made in that connection to the Gandhi Seva Sangh which was described 
as functioning as the parent trunk, at one time. But Gandhiji smelt danger 
in that. He did not want the constructive workers’ organizations to be 
drawn into power politics and become a rival to the Congress or the Gov- 
ernment in the contest for political power. 

Gandhi Seva Sangh is no longer there. Nor did it attempt 
to rally all constructive workers under one organization. It did 
once make a short-lived attempt to enter into and purify the poli- 
tics of the country but had to admit defeat. 

DR. ZAKIR HUSAIN: Various organizations were created separately as 
ad hoc bodies to perform certain specific functions. If they are united into 
one body, it will not be possible to keep power politics out of it. 

If the united constructive workers’ sangh tried to go into 
power politics, it would spell its ruin. Or else why should I 
myself not have gone into politics and tried to run the Govern- 
ment my way? Those who are holding the reins of power today, 
would easily have stepped aside and made room for me, but 
whilst they are in charge, they can carry on only according to 
their own lights. But I do not want to take power into my hands. 
By abjuring power and by devoting ourselves to pure and selfless 
service of the voters, we can guide and influence them. It would 
give us far more real power than we shall have by going into 
the Government. But a stage may come, when the people them- 
selves may feel and say that they want us and no one else to 
wield the power. The question could then be considered. I shall 
most probably be not alive then. But when that time comes, the 
Sanghs will produce from amongst them someone who will take 
over the reins of administration. By that time, India shall have 
become an ideal state. 

DR. ZAKIR HUSAIN: Shall uot we need ideal men in order to inaugurate 
and run the ideal State? 

We can send men of our choice, without going into the Gov- 
ernment ourselves. Today, everybody in the Congress is running 
after power. That presages grave danger. Let us not be in the 
same cry as the power-seekers. Today, many Congressmen say: 
“Pandit Jawaharlal is getting so much salary, and why should 
not we?” They forget that a person of Jawaharlal’s talents could 
any day have commanded a far greater emolument than he is 
getting today. If an ordinary humble worker like myself, who 



224 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


neither needs nor has the capacity to earn independently, say, 
Rs. 3,000 per month, draws that much amount as salary, it is a 
deplorable thing. It is my firm view, that we should keep alto- 
gether aloof from power politics and its contagion.' 

Mahatma, Vol. VIII, pp. 227-9 


184. LETTER TO SHARD A G. CHOKHAWALA 

December 12, 1947 

CHI. BABUDI, 

I have your letter. It is good that you have patiently stayed 
on at Nagpur. Continue to stay there. I know you will not 
easily lose heart, you must not. 

I am very glad that Shakaribehn is there. You did well in 
sending over Anand to Sevagram. 

Remember that all of us, whether healthy or sick, live through 
God’s grace. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 10080. Courtesy: Sharda G. Chokhawala 


185. LETTER TO KANJH 


New Delhi, 

December 12, 1947 

brother kanji, 

I have received your letter. Only that you may not feel any 
anxiety, I am writing this reply. 

Other controls may go and there may be harm because of 
their going. Let there be harm. But why don’t you give up the 
control on your English? Your mother tongue is Gujarati, how 
is it that you have forgotten it completely? 

How can I leave the Birla Brothers’ house if somebody 
else tells me to do so ? When my experience is to the contrary, to 

' It was decided to hold an All-India Basic Education Conference from 
March 6 to 9 in Bihar. In the mean time a preliminary conference was to 
be held at Sevagram to work on the reorganization plan. 

^ The Gujarati original is not available. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


225 


say that they are opposed to [dejcontrol is not correct. Reasons for 
removal of control for me and them are different and my oppo- 
sition to control is of long standing and from the time when I 
was not living in their house. Everybody must act on the prompt- 
ings of his conscience; you, on yours; I, on mine; others, on 
their own; and from that at last truth will come out. 

Tours, 

M. K. Gandhi 

From a copy: B. G. Kher Papers. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum 
and Library 


186. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 12, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I have a letter from a refugee, saying I had advised the re- 
fugees yesterday to start going back. I had said nothing of the 
kind. I had said that we would have to see about it and could 
say something definite only after I had made sure that what I 
had been told represented the truth. The correspondent says that 
he wants to go back right away because here there is anarchy all 
round, no one cares about anyone else, there is no food to eat 
and no clothes to wear, and nothing is being done for the re- 
fugees. I am aware that all this is true. Things have reached a 
stage where everyone cannot be looked after and everything can- 
not be made available. I think that all that is possible is being 
done. But even if it is not being done I cannot advise anyone to 
go back. If they had not come at all it would have been different. 
But since they have come they should return only after things are 
fully normal. They should certainly be in readiness, for the sooner 
they are in a position to go back the better it will be. 

Yesterday I had said I would read out to you the transla- 
tion of the verse from the Koran recited here. I had already 
explained to you the substance. The translation runs: “I surren- 
der myself to Allah to save myself from the wicked Satan. I 
begin with the name of God. Whatever I do, I do in His name 
because it is He who provides everything, He who is Rahim, the 
mighty, and Rehman, the merciful. He is all in all. God is one. 
He is unborn. It is He who causes everything to be born. He 
has no equal. He is sufficient unto Himself. That is why we say 
90-15 



226 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


that He is faultless and formless. He is the home of all attri- 
butes. His attributes cannot be fathomed.” 

Today I have four or five letters. One is from Kathiawar. 
I had mentioned a letter from some Muslims from Kathiawar^ 
but a few Muslims object even to that. I do not know why. 
The same people who had made accusations had written to me 
that nothing much had happened and if there had been some 
slight disturbance the Congressmen had tried their best to estab- 
lish peace and that they were living happily in their homes. 

Another letter is from Burma and yet another from perhaps 
Bombay. It is unsigned and I do not know where to send my 
reply. The letter from Bombay says that I do nothing but create 
confusion. Whether or not I am creating confusion, I know, and 
you who hear me also know. It says I should investigate what 
happened in Kathiawar, but how can, I unless I am supplied 
with details? It is not within my power to initiate any inves- 
tigation. I can only ask the Government to do so. 

Another letter is about Ajmer. It is from the Hindus. They 
say what I had said was not the truth. ^ There had been rioting 
no doubt but it was not started by the Hindus. It was started 
by the Muslims. It had always been like that. Then I realized 
that this is the other side of the picture. God alone knows what 
is true and what is not. I had based my statement on what I 
had seen in the newspapers. I had also heard things from various 
people. If we persist in such conduct we cannot keep the Govern- 
ment going. 

A correspondent wants money to be made available for the 
renovation of the Somnath temple. The Sardar had agreed that the 
temple should be renovated but that the money should not be 
taken from the Junagadh treasury or the treasury of the Govern- 
ment of India. The correspondent asks why the money should not 
thus be made available. I do not wish to go into the question 
in any detail. All I can say is that if money is taken from the 
Government for this purpose, then the same rule should apply 
to other cases also. It will have far-reaching consequences. 

According to newspaper reports there has been rowdyism in 
Calcutta.^ It seems that we have got used to thinking that we 

' Vide pp. 180-1. 

^ Vide pp. 207-8. 

3 On December 1 1 , there was a demonstration in Calcutta against the 
Security Bill, which was pending in the Assembly. One person was killed 
and several people were injured in the clash between the demonstrators and 
the police. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


227 


can take what we want by resorting to rowdyism. It is a dan- 
gerous trend. This is a thing I have never taught. We fought 
against the British for thirty years. But it was a non-violent 
struggle. There was no place in it for physical assaults or snatching 
things by force. The Government in Bengal is our government. 
It is run by Congressmen. They should not have been subjected 
to such behaviour. Supposing they have made a mistake — I 
personally do not know where their mistake lay — rowdyism is 
not the way to point it out. Why should we indulge in barbaric 
behaviour? There were students among those who indulged in 
rowdyism. They are well-educated. It hardly behoves them to 
stop the members of the Assembly from entering the Assembly, to 
block all the entrances and, not stopping there, to get into the 
Assembly itself. But that is what they did. It seems to me that 
if we persist in this kind of thing the Government cannot be carried 
on for long. The demonstration was intended to make the Assem- 
bly desist from enacting the Bill that the demonstrators did not 
want. The Bill proposed by the Government is meant for pre- 
venting people from indulging in violent activities. Even if the 
demonstrators did not like this Bill, they should have expressed 
their opposition in a peaceful way. They should not have indulged 
in rowdyism. We did not do such things against the British. 
If any people did so I used to admonish them. We always be- 
haved as gentlemen — I for one even used to undertake fasts. 

Our Government today is faced with a number of important 
tasks. Those tasks have to be attended to. We cannot complain if 
it becomes necessary for the police to resort to lathi charge or use 
of tear-gas or to firing. Freedom does not mean that those pro- 
voking breach of peace should not be punished. If this happens 
one should not complain. There are various lawful ways of voi- 
cing protests. You can talk to people, write in the newspapers, 
complain to the Parliament or to the Central Government. We 
have all the necessary means. We cannot say the Government is 
ineffective. It is only three months old. We are like a three- 
month-old child. One cannot say we are mature. I would there- 
fore humbly plead with those who resort to rowdyism to desist 
from it. 

It is not that all of those indulging in rowdyism are hooli- 
gans or illiterate people. There are among them well-educated 
people. If they carry on such activities all the work we want to 
do will come to a stop. We have to reach food to the people. We 
have to provide them assistance in various other ways. It seems 
that it has become a profession with some to have all work stopped. 



228 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


This should not be so. It is a mercy that the entire population 
of Calcutta was not involved in this. But even if they were, 
it would not have been a good thing. This kind of thing should 
stop. People should realize that the Government belongs to them 
and if the Government does not help them they should protest in 
lawful ways. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 196-9 


187. NEVER DANGEROUS^ 

When it is relevant, truth has to be uttered, however unpleas- 
ant it may be. Irrelevance is always untruth and should never 
be uttered. Misdeeds of the Hindus in the Union have to be 
proclaimed by the Hindus from the house-tops, if those of the 
Muslims in Pakistan are to be arrested or stopped. Confession 
of one’s guilt purifies and uplifts. Its suppression is degrading and 
should always be avoided. 

New Delhi, December 13, 1947 
Harijan, 21-12-1947 

188. THE DOCTRINE OF MERGERS 

Merger, as used here, has no legal significance. People of 
some States in the Deccan Union^ are reported to have expressed 
an intense desire for extinction of their Princely houses and 
their absorption in their provinces. This has been described as 
merging in British India (as it was called during British rule), 
as distinguished from Princely India or States. 

In a society based on non-violence, there should be no im- 
patient destruction compassed by [one] man of another, for, 
every evil-doer, unless he mends his ways, is bound to destroy 
himself. Evil can never be self-existent. Therefore, the Congress 
policy has always been to mend Princely rule, not to end it, and 
to induce the Princes to become trustees and servants in reality of 

* A Gujarati version of this appeared in Harijanbandhu, 21-12-1947. 

2 A Hindi version of this appeared in Harijan Sevak, 21-12-1947. 

^ The Deccan States’ Union consisted of the States of Aundh, Bhor, 
Mira] Junior, Sangli, Ramdurg, Phaltan, Kurundwar Senior and Kurun- 
dwar Junior. 



SPINNING still! 


229 


their people. In pursuance of that policy the Congress Govern- 
ment has tried and in the main succeeded in inducing the States 
to accede to the Union instead of planning the destruction of 
Princely rule and absorption of their States as an integral part 
of the Union provinces concerned. Therefore, merger can take 
place only under two conditions, viz., if the misrule of a particular 
Prince is self-evident and is irremediable, the people will have the 
right, as it will be their duty, to seek absorption or merger in 
their province. The second condition would be when a Prince and 
the people of his State both desire merger. It is suggested that 
any one State or its people, whether powerful or insignificant, 
should not seek merger unless all the States or the majority desire 
it. I do not think so. Misrule cannot wait to be ended before 
there is equal misrule in other States. Nor can a Prince who 
does not wish for any Princely power be expected or be made 
to wait till the other Princes are ready. Each case will have to 
be decided on its merits by the Central Government. 

New Delhi, December 13, 1947 
Harijan, 21-12-1947 


189. SPINNING STILL! ^ 

A correspondent writes: 

I and the members of my family have been regular spinners and 
weavers of khadi. Now that we have got our freedom, do you still 
contend that we should spin and wear khadi? 

This is a strange question. Nevertheless, it represents the con- 
dition of many people. Such persons evidently took to the spin- 
ning-wheel and khadi merely mechanically and as one of the means 
of attaining freedom. These friends forget that freedom was not 
mere removal of the foreign yoke, though it was the first essen- 
tial. Khadi represents and represented a way of life based on 
non-violence. Rightly or wrongly, it is my opinion that practical 
disappearance of khadi and non-violence shows that the main 
implication of khadi was not grasped by us during all these years. 
Hence, the tragedy we witness of fratricidal strife and the lawless- 
ness on many sides. I have no doubt that spinning and weaving 
of khadi are more important than ever if we are to have freedom 
that is to be instinctively felt by the masses of the villagers of India. 


^ A Gujarati version of this appeared in Harijanbandhu, 21-12-1947. 



230 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

That is the Kingdom of God on earth. Through khadi we were 
struggling to establish supremacy of man in the place of the 
supremacy of power-driven machine over him. Through khadi 
we were striving for equality of all men and women in the place 
of the gross inequality to be witnessed today. We were striving 
to attain subservience of capital under labour in the place of the 
insolent triumph of capital over labour. Unless, therefore, all the 
effort made during the past thirty years in India was a retro- 
grade step, hand-spinning and all it implies must be prosecuted 
with much greater vigour and far greater intelligence than 
hitherto. 

New Delhi, December 13, 1947 
Harijan, 21-12-1947 

190. LETTER TO NARAHARI D. PARIKH 

December 13, 1947 

CHI. NARAHARI, 

I am addressing this to you because I think that you alone 
will be able to read it. As Dada also will be arriving there by 
tomorrow, I must write a few lines. I don’t like your having 
the stroke. If the cause is not internal, you will soon get well. 
But the rule is that after such an attack the patient must take 
complete rest for some time. Probably the sea-coast will be more 
suitable. Whether you are fit enough to undertake the journey, 
the doctor there would know. I might say that if I had been 
there I would have known. God is the support of us all. May 
He protect you. 

I hope Mani^ is not scared. Vanamala^ at any rate must 
not be. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S. N. 9147 


* Addressee’s wife 
2 Addressee’s daughter 



191. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

New Delhi, 

December 13, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Yesterday I told you that I was going to Harijan Nivas 
for doing some work there. The meetings of the Charkha Sangh 
and Talimi Sangh, etc., were being held there in which I had 
something to do. I shall speak to you about that. 

Today I would speak to you about the charkha which was 
the subject of discussion there. What is the significance of the 
charkha? Why do I lay so much emphasis on it? It is true 
that when I first discovered the charkha, it was a common thing 
in the Punjab. But I did not know about it. And when women 
came and placed before me heaps and heaps of yarn it made 
me very happy. I took a charkha from there. The same thing I 
saw later in Gujarat. By Gujarat I do not mean the Gujarat of 
Punjab which is a district and a town. I am speaking of the 
Gujarat which is near Bombay. Vijapur is a town in the Gaek- 
war State. There was a woman worker there who used to travel 
a good deal. Her name was Gangabehn. She came to know of 
my craze for the charkha. She too went to Vijapur. In Gujarat 
women, who lived in purdah and included both Muslims and 
Rajputs, used to spin. But no one took notice of their spinning. 
Gangabehn told them that she would buy all the yarn they 
could spin. They then began to sell all their yarn to her. 
Women would line upto go to her, give their yarn and take 
slivers from her. I do not wish to go into the question of who 
made the slivers. They also got some money from her. Later, 
as we progressed, the amount of money the women received also 
increased. In this way lakhs of homes could get some money 
earned by the women. The charkha thus became very popular 
there and through this work of khadi the women were able to 
earn enough money for their food. Their demands were small. 
They did not ask for a daily wage of two rupees, or three rupees. 
They got two pice and they were content. When they got three 
or four they were more than satisfied. Still later the progress 
was much more. 

Afterwards when I thought over it I realized that the 
charkha had tremendous potentiality. What is this power? What 

231 



232 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


can the charkha achieve? The charkha represents the power of 
non-violence. If on the one side there is the armed might of the whole 
world and on the other the charkha plied by the chaste hands — 
not unworthy hands — of our women, the power of the charkha 
is greater. You have all had a glimpse of that power. I have had a 
little more of it. But no one amongst us has known the whole 
of it. People merely thought that the charkha was only for poor 
women. That it certainly is. But it is also a symbol of non-vio- 
lence. If people knew this they would not burn the charkha. 

Time was when the whole of India plied the charkha and 
it enjoyed pride of place. There were no mills then either in 
India or anywhere else in the world. Cotton textiles were sent to 
the outside world from India and there was a time when Dacca 
muslin known as shabnam} was very popular. It was greatly valued 
by people outside India. They appreciated its beauty. I do not 
wish to go into all that history, though it is quite interesting. 
Nevertheless at that time the charkha was a symbol of slavery, 
for women were then forced to give a certain quantity of yarn 
and this was done by order of the government. And the Govern- 
ment was not a Muslim government but a Hindu government. 
It is all described in the books written at the behest of the Hindu 
Government. Later on Bengal passed into Muslim hands, but this 
system goes back to much earlier times. The charkha then truly 
stood for slavery. Women were forced to spin; they had to supply 
fixed quantities of yarn and they could not even ask to be paid 
for it. The Government itself decided what little money was 
to be paid for their labour and when even that money was not 
paid the women could do nothing about it. The attitude then pre- 
valent was that after all women were born to do such work. They 
should be thankful if they were paid just a little money for it. 
It is a tragic history the way women were exploited and I do not 
wish to go into it. The charkha which was then a symbol of 
slavery has been transformed into a symbol of our freedom, and 
that is what I have been shouting from the house-tops. 

During the Khilafat days the Ali Brothers were quick to 
seize on the charkha. They said that we should now be able to 
gain a victory over England through the balls of yarn prepared by 
our women. All we had to do was to fling the balls at those who 
imported cloth from England to sell it here. This was in 1920. 
But the work of the charkha had been started perhaps in 1916. 
In 1919^ I had toured the Punjab. You may ask me why, although 

* Literally “dew” 

^ Gandhiji had toured the Punjab in October-December 1919. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


233 


we have gained freedom, this storm is raging in India. The reason 
for it is that in truth we have not embraced the charkha. It is 
only women who have done some work in this direction. They liked 
what I said because I am their friend and their servant. Some 
of them came out from their seclusion after I entered the field. 
Before that women would not attend meetings nor speak at meet- 
ings. So women were kind to me and they took up the charkha. 
But if they had taken up the charkha not out of kindness to me 
but in the knowledge that the charkha would give them strength 
and give India strength, we would not have been in the predica- 
ment we are in today. We have to develop in us the power that 
non-violence alone can give. For that we shall once again have to 
adopt the charkha. Today we have forgotten the charkha. We 
shall have to accept the charkha with all that it stands for. Only 
then can we sing the glory of the tri-colour. That is why we 
have the charkha in the middle of the tri-colour though of 
course now the figure has been reduced to a wheel and we 
find a different interpretation for it.^ That interpretation is not 
bad. The idea behind the three colours was that the Hindus, Mus- 
lims and others should work together and the idea of having the 
charkha on it was that such work should be pursued through the 
charkha. Today we have a larger army. We are trying to augment 
it further. Our expenditure on the army has increased enor- 
mously. What if the British are no longer here. It is a tragedy 
and a shame. For so long we fought through the charkha and 
the moment we have power in our hands we forget it. Today 
we look up to the army. It is because we have forgotten the 
charkha that we indulge in mutual fighting. Our mistake was 
to imagine that the charkha was a thing only for women. 

When I told the Sikhs and Muslims of the Punjab to ply the 
charkha they were shocked. Could the charkha be for men? Men 
had swords in their hands. I merely laughed. Later a few Sikhs 
and Muslims accepted my advice and began to spin quite well. 
But still I must say that the charkha has not made for itself a 
home in the Punjab. But I do not want them to take up the 
charkha out of kindness to me. They may well burn the charkha 
and give up wearing khadi. The charkha being a symbol of 
non-violence and a repository of great power, it is an emblem of 

' Attributing great significance to the Chakra, Prof. Radha Kumud 
Mookerjee traced its origin to Lord Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra — the Cosmic 
Circle, comprehending all that is animate or inanimate. The Buddha called 
it the Dhamma-Chakka — the Wheel of Righteousness — which was later adopted 
by Emperor Ashoka as the State symbol. Vide also Vol. LXXXIX, p. 120. 



234 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


courage. Let us embrace that ahimsa with deliberation and with 
all our heart and intellect. Then no one can take it away from 
us. If the ten crore adults in our country take to spinning there 
can never be a famine of cloth in India. We produce a great 
quantity of cotton and we can earn crores of rupees. The im- 
portant thing is that no military force can stand up to the power 
created by crores of people working together. It is my fault, not 
that of ahimsa, if I cannot prove that. That is because I am 
lacking in tapashcharja. But you cannot say that ahimsa does not 
have the power. That power can find the fullest expression 
through the charkha. If the millions do not ply the charkha, the 
loss is obvious. Only a few lakhs of people can be employed by 
the mills. What occupation shall we provide for the hundreds of 
millions? This is what you have to consider. This is a supreme 
economic as well as moral question. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 200-2 


192. REPLY TO RICHARD B. GREGG 
A correspondent writes': 

I wonder if the correspondent has fully grasped the deeper 
meaning of Mr. Gregg’s presentation. The latter will answer if 
he chooses. 

Harijan, 14-12-1947 


193. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 
December 14, 1947 

brothers and sisters. 

As I was coming to the prayer, I received a note saying that 
a Muslim friend of the writer had been forced to go away to 
Pakistan. The friend had left with the writer of the note some gold 
and silver bought with the earnings of his own labour. He 
wants to know how it is to be sent to its owner in Pakistan, who 

* The letter is not reproduced here. The correspondent had rejected the 
explanation suggested by Richard B. Gregg, for the recent violence in India. 
Vide pp. 1-3. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


235 


however has not given his name and address in Pakistan. If he fur- 
nishes the particulars I shall pass on the gold and silver to the 
Government to be sent to the person concerned. Till he is traced 
the property can remain with the Government. It is gratifying to 
know that notwithstanding all that has happened there are still 
among us Hindus and Muslims between whom fraternal feelings 
continue to exist and who do not covet what belongs to their 
friends of the other community. If everyone was like this the 
misfortune that has befallen us would soon be overcome. 

I told you I would be reporting to you briefly whatever took 
place at the meetings of various Sanghs being held in the Harijan 
Colony. Yesterday I told you about the Charkha Sangh and 
its activities of spinning and weaving. I have to tell you now 
about village industries and Nayee Talim. I shall deal with Nayee 
Talim today. 

Nayee Talim is not a thing with which everyone is acquainted, 
though the work has been going on now for seven or eight years. 
Nayee Talim consists in imparting all instructions through some 
handicrafts. The idea in a way has much deeper roots. The 
argument is that no education is true education unless it is found- 
ed in truth and non-violence. A man may have acquired all the 
learning, understood the essence of all the scriptures, may have 
studied Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian, but, as the Sanskrit saying' 
goes, unless he has acquired true wisdom all his education has 
been in vain. By true wisdom is meant that which leads us to 
mukti. There are of course various kinds of mukti. There is 
release from the bondage of action, release from the clutches of 
a tyrant, release of a girl from the hands of a maniac, and 
liberation of the country from foreign yoke. The mukti meant 
here is the liberation from all the ills of the world. Education 
that is not rooted in truth and non-violence is no education in 
the proper sense of the word. There are so many instances of 
people who were highly learned and yet were Satanic in their 
pursuits. One famous instance is that of Ravana. Ravana 
possessed great learning and his penance too was great. And 
yet because his pursuits were demoniac he perished, whereas 
Rama lives even today. We regard Rama as a manifestation 
of the Supreme Lord. So in order to acquire true wealth of 
learning we must cultivate truth and non-violence. The dis- 
cussion at the meeting centred round the question of the method 
of giving such education. It could not obviously be imparted 





236 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


through books. Then what should be done? Millions of people 
in the country pursue some handicraft. They cannot all be rich. 
Even in America everyone is not rich. True, the poverty there 
is of a different order but the hardships attendant on poverty are 
similar. In the same way various other ills widespread in India 
also exist there. With all their wealth and all their learning they 
have not been able to overcome these. I thought that if the mil- 
lions were to be given education it could be done only through 
handicraft. If among a population of hundreds of millions a lakh 
or two have secured what now passes for education, what good 
can it do ? And if everyone tried to have that education we would 
go bankrupt. The real system of education is one where the 
children of rich and poor, of king and subject, receive education 
through crafts. And this cannot be done unless we adhere to 
truth and non-violence. It becomes a question of religion here — 
not religion in a sectarian sense but religion in a universal 
sense. Such religion is eternal. It cannot change. It is for all, 
as much for Hindus as for Muslims. One cannot say that 
Hindus should speak the truth and Muslims should tell lies. 
It is in the interest of all to speak the truth. It is no one’s 
religious duty to commit violence. If someone asks me whether 
Sikhs and Muslims may not receive Nayee Talim I shall say that 
if Sikhs and Muslims both declare that they are votaries of violence 
then certainly Nayee Talim would not be for them. Nayee Talim 
is not the special province of any one sect. I have studied all reli- 
gions and assimilated their essence. Muslims and Sikhs both come 
and sit beside me. They advocate violence only where all other 
methods fail. But when we initiate a child into education we 
should begin by teaching him how to die rather than kill. We 
therefore decided that if we had to conduct Nayee Talim it had to 
be in this way. Those carrying it on must stand by truth and 
non-violence. Only then can it succeed. But I do not know if 
it is so now. I cannot read anyone’s heart. I am also not a 
prophet. The reins of Nayee Talim are not in my hands. All 
I can do is to offer advice when asked. True, I conceived the 
idea. But the organization itself was formed by the Congress. 
Zakir Husain is its President. If he does not hold by truth and 
non-violence he should resign. But I have never known him to 
be guilty of falsehood or violence. He is associated with me 
only because he does not believe in violence. The Secretaries of 
the Hindustani Talimi Sangh are Aryanayakum and his wife. 
They too are votaries of truth and non-violence. I am busy 
otherwise and they have to run the scheme. They are the moving 



LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAI 


237 


spirit behind Nayee Talim. It is not even Zakir Saheb. He is 
only the President. If Aryanayakum and Asha Devi abandoned 
it the scheme would collapse. It is not an organization which 
can run on its own. Take the Congress for instance. I am of 
course out of it. But even if Jawaharlal, the Sardar and Rajendra 
Babu go out of it the Congress will go on. Or take the Charkha 
Sangh. I am its President. If I leave it, its work will go on, for 
it is an organization that has existed for many years. But that 
is not so with Nayee Talim. It has yet to establish itself well. It 
will be well established when those running it have the qualities 
of the sthitaprajna described in the Gita^. We must find an acti- 
vity in which everyone can participate. I want to tell you that 
handicrafts alone provide such activity. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 202-4 


194. LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAI 

December 15, 1947 

CHI. VALJI, 

I got the letter written on the reverse side yesterday. I am 
sending the article on railways^ after revising it. 

I feel a trace of violence in what you have suggested. Read 
what St. Paul says about charity^. I am doing that, too, in my 
own way. Though I am a friend of the Ministers, I am not a 
Minister. People outside the Government cannot understand 
their difficulties. And I, too, am an outsider. Need I say more 
to a wise man? 

I am sending Thadani’s to the man himself. I have still 
not received the volumes of Prempanth'^. But I think they will 
arrive in due course. I will not write specially to acknowledge 
their receipt. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 7507. Courtesy: Valji G. Desai 

• II. 55-72 

^ The article was published under the title “Democratize Our Railways” 
in Harijan, 21-12-1947. 

^ I Corinthians, ch. 13 

Ten volumes of Gandhiji’s writings in Gujarati edited by the addres- 
see. For Gandhiji’s foreword to it, vide Vol. LXXXV, p. 81. 



195. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 

New Delhi, 

December 15, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I was pained to read in the papers that the refugees have 
forcibly occupied the buildings of six municipal schools and have 
so far resisted all attempts of the New Delhi Municipal Commit- 
tee to make them vacate the buildings. The Municipality, one 
understands, is now seeking police help in the matter. 

This episode is an instance of shameless rowdyism. In the 
capital city of India such happenings are a cause for great shame. 
I hope those responsible for this will repent and leave the school 
premises. If they do not, I hope their friends will try to make 
them see reason and the authorities will not be forced to carry 
out its threat. It is a general complaint against the refugees that 
in spite of all their tribulations they have not become sober, re- 
sponsible and industrious citizens. Let us hope that the refugees 
in general and those who have forcibly occupied schools will repent 
and prove that the complaint is not justified. 

On Saturday^ I referred to the rowdyism in Calcutta. Those 
indulging in rowdyism there were not refugees. The incident had 
a different background too. It is the duty of all leading men, 
whatever their persuasion or party, to safeguard the dignity of 
India. India’s dignity cannot be saved if misgovernment and 
corruption flourish. I mention corruption because misgovernment 
and corruption always go together. I have it from very trust- 
worthy sources that corruption is increasing in the country. Is 
everyone then going to think only of himself, not at all of India? 
A correspondent writes: 

I have just been listening to your prayer speech of yesterday on 
the radio. You say some Muslims from U. P. who have been to Lahore, 
have assured you on behalf of the Pakistan Government that non-Mus- 
lims, and in particular Hindus, can go back there and resume their 
businesses. In the first place to invite only the Hindus and not the 
Sikhs shows cunning and is intended to create a breach between Hindus 

^ As Gandhiji was observing silence, his written speech was read out at 
the meeting. 

^ December 12 


238 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


239 


and Sikhs. Such assurances are treacherous. They are a mockery. Only 
persons like you can be taken in by such talk from the Muslims. 
I send you a cutting from The Hindustan Times of December 11. It 
will tell you something about the sincerity and truthfulness of the 
Pakistan Government. Will you still say that the Muslims who come 
to you are honest people ? All they are concerned about is to make you 
believe that the Pakistan Government is just to the minorities and all is 
well in that country, although facts speak otherwise. If those Muslim 
gentlemen come to you again, please show them the cutting. I am 
sure you will not have forgotten what befell the Hindus and Sikhs 
who had gone to Lahore on November 20 last to take out their valu- 
ables from the bank. The armed units escorting them were attacked in 
the presence of responsible Government officers of Pakistan who did 
nothing to stop the attackers. 

The cutting says: 

According to a report recently published in the Civil and Military 
Gazette of Lahore, non-Muslim traders and shopkeepers who had left 
Pakistan during the riots are coming back in the hope of resuming 
their trades, after an interval of months. But before they are given 
back the possession of their shops they are made to sign such impos- 
sible conditions that many had to go back disappointed. The Reha- 
bilitation Commissioner has laid down the following conditions for letting 
people reopen their shops: 

1. The proprietor or owner will keep a full account of sales. 

2. He will not transfer cash or commodities from one place to 
another without prior permission of the Government. 

3. He will give an undertaking to keep his shop as a going con- 
cern. 

4. He will deposit in a bank the daily proceeds from sales. 

5. He will live permanently in Lahore. 

No conditions are laid down for the Muslims. Then why these 
conditions for the Hindus? The Hindus say they cannot abide by the 
conditions. So they go back disappointed. 

I have already spoken of the possibility of disappointment and 
even if the report is accurate it does not necessarily follow that 
what the Muslim friends told me is false. The persons concerned 
have not only to think of their own position but they have to 
think of India, whose representatives they are, and of Pakistan 
which has given them the assurances. I may say that the Mus- 
lim friends concerned keep in touch with me. They came to see 
me today too. But I was observing silence and writing my 



240 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


prayer message and so could not see them. They sent me word 
that they were not sitting idle but working for their mission. My 
advice to the correspondent is not to be so full of distrust and so 
sensitive. He will lose nothing by trusting. Distrust eats up a 
man. He should behave with discretion. For myself I can only 
say that I do not regret what I have done. All my life I have 
trusted in people with my eyes open. I shall continue to trust the 
Muslim friends till it is proved that they cannot be trusted. Trust 
begets trust. It gives one the strength to face treachery. If re- 
fugees from both sides are to go back to their homes the way for 
it is the way I have adopted and am following. The correspon- 
dent’s suspicion that it is a trick to create a split between the 
Hindus and the Sikhs is wrong. I had even mentioned to the 
Muslim friends the possibility of their assurance being given such 
prejudicial construction. They denied vehemently that there was 
any trickery in it. I see nothing wrong in a path being paved for 
those wishing to return. It cannot be denied that there is more 
poison in Pakistan for Sikhs than for Hindus but the Hindus and 
Sikhs have to swim or sink together. They should harbour no 
malice. Intriguers cannot have sincere amity among themselves. 

A correspondent from East Pakistan says: 

Now that India has been partitioned how can you call yourself a 
citizen of united India? Now what belongs to one Dominion cannot 
belong to the other. 

Whatever the legal pundits may say they cannot rule the hearts 
of men. Who can prevent the correspondent from saying that he 
is a citizen of the world ? Legally that is not the case and some 
countries have laws that would prevent him from entering those 
countries. But if one has not been reduced to an automaton, 
as some of us have not been, what does it matter to one what 
one’s legal status is? So long as we are morally on the right 
path we do not have to worry. What we have to take care of is 
that we do not nurse enmity towards anyone or any country. For 
instance no one who harbours enmity towards Muslims or Pakistan 
can claim to be a citizen of both Pakistan and India. If such 
feeling of enmity spreads it will end up in a war breaking out 
between the two countries. Every country will treat as traitors 
those of its citizens who harbour malice towards it and help a 
foreign country. Loyalty is indivisible. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 204-8 



196. LETTER TO JIVAJVJI D. DESAI 


December 16, 1947 

CHI. JIVANJI, 

I am sending a lot this time. The notes will be sent by 
Kalyanam or Sushila. The items contain three or four varieties 
of model Hindustani, including some articles* by Sundarlal. If 
all of them cannot be included this time, you may include as 
many as possible. Do you think the compositors there will be 
able to decipher the handwriting? If you think any portion 
requires to be revised here, let me know. Dev’s article^ is 
a long one. You may break it up into two or three instalments. 
Its English translation^ also is there. It also may be broken up 
into the same number of instalments. 

Please don’t think that I shall be able to repeat this per- 
formance every time. 

Pyarelal arrived here yesterday. He also will write something 
now. 

Let me know if there is any effect on circulation. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original. C. W. 6963. Courtesy: Jivanji D. Desai 


* The articles entitled “Hindi ya Hindustani”, “Somnathka Mandir” 
and “Notes” appeared in Harijan Sevak, 21-12-1947 and 28-12-1947. 

^ Which appeared in Harijan Sevak, 4-1-1948 and 11-1-1948 under the 
title “Prayashchittaki Yatra” 

^ Which appeared in Harijan, 4-1-1948 and 11-1-1948, under the title 
“The Pilgrimage of Penance” 


90-16 


241 



197. LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM 


December 16, 1947 

CHI. AMTUL SALAAM, 

I have your letter. Bari' has written to you. How is it his 
letter has not reached you ? He does not wish you to come here. 
Go to Borkamta. Your field of work is there. I am sending a 
telegram. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 591 


198. TELEGRAM TO AMTUSSALAAM 

New Delhi, 

December \_16Y, 1947 

Amtulsalaam 
Gandhi Camp 
Ramganj 
Noakhali 

YOU CAN GO BORKAMTA. 

Bapu 

From a photostat: G. N. 592 


199. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 16, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I am told — and to some extent it is true — that controls on 
certain articles of food and clothing have been removed and will be 

' Bari Khan, addressee’s brother 

^ The date has been inferred from the letter to the addressee dated 
December 16, 1947; vide the preceding item. 

242 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


243 


removed from more articles. There is now no doubt that controls 
are on the way out and Brijkishan has told me of its very first 
consequence. Gur, which used to be sold at Re. 1 a seer is now 
available at 8 [annas] a seer. This is some achievement. Of course 
the price should be still lower. When I was young no one could 
have dreamt that gur would ever become so dear. A seer of it could 
be had for one anna or less. We should therefore hope that the 
price of this commodity will further fall. No doubt we cannot 
have it free of cost. Similarly, sugar has come down from Rs. 
32 to Rs. 20 a maund. Moong^, urad'^ and arhar^ are now sold at 
Ij seers for a rupee. The same is true of gram. Gram, in my 
opinion, is included in the pulses, but in this region it has various 
special uses and so it is kept separate. It used to sell at Rs. 24 
a maund. Now the price is Rs. 18. The black-market price of 
wheat used to be Rs. 34 a maund. It is now Rs. 24. The same 
goes for other articles. People used to frighten me that I did 
not know how markets were operated, how prices rose and fell, 
that I did not know economics, that I was saying what I did 
because I was a mahatma and did not have to suffer the con- 
sequences of decontrol; it was the poor who would have to suffer. 
But from the first results of decontrol I see that the people will 
live rather than die through the measure. I shall therefore say that 
control on maize, barley and millet should also be lifted. Because 
those who are used to millet will continue to eat millet. They 
will not be able to digest wheat. Similarly there are many whose 
staple diet is maize. I thus see no reason why control on these 
articles should continue. Dr. Rajendra Prasad too had promised 
that gradually all controls would be lifted. We have seen the 
desirable consequences of some controls being lifted. Now take 
match-boxes. One has to pay an exorbitant price for a box of 
matches in the black-market, which is really the open market. 
There is no doubt that if it is decontrolled it will have a very 
good effect. Match-boxes never used to be so costly. In my 
time it cost almost nothing. Today a box of matches is sold, 
maybe, for one anna. Then one got a whole dozen for that 
price. Things were never so costly as they are now. I am 
happy when people’s incomes rise but the rise in prices always 
distresses me. If the prices rise the excess should go to the toiler, 
but even then prices cannot rise so steeply. This happens when 
traders turn wicked and greedy and want to pocket as much profit 
as they can. We have got our independence and we have been 


' to ^ Varieties of pulses 



244 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


through a great calamity also, but still we have not learnt purity 
of conduct. If our traders content themselves with what is a 
just profit, I have not the least fear that decontrol will lead to 
a rise in prices. Even those who have such a fear attribute it 
to the fact that we are wicked and dishonest. Traders care only 
for their profits and the farmers and other producers too are 
only concerned with filling their own bellies and nobody bothers 
about the consumers. If that is so, how can one say that there 
is democracy in India? How can such things be permitted in 
a democracy ? In a democracy it is incumbent on the Govern- 
ment to trust the people. It must clearly say that it will do 
as the people desire but that if what they desire brings them 
hardships it cannot be held responsible. True, we have a Civil 
Service, but all of us who are here should consider ourselves 
soldiers and serve the people. Today malpractices fiourish. I 
am continuously receiving telegrams, etc., from everywhere. I 
understand there are some fishy practices going on in Bombay 
though I do not know exactly what. This should stop. But the 
people should congratulate the Government for the good work 
that has so far been done. It also encourages it. So much for 
the lifting of controls. 

There is then the matter of the [Indian] Civil Service. I 
am receiving letters every day complaining of the expenditure 
still being incurred on the Civil Service. How can all I. C. S. 
men be removed all at once? And if they were, how would the 
work go on? Some have already gone and some others, who 
are soon to go, are having to do much hard work. The I. C. S. 
is in the charge of the Sardar. He praises that cadre very highly. 
Although they are few in number the I. C. S. men deserve to 
be complimented for the work they do. They no doubt re- 
ceive high salaries. Still, it is we who constitute the real Civil 
Service. Let the Government accept us as the Civil Servants 
and, in order to enforce discipline, punish us as it does the 
Civil Servants. Let it summon any one of us and say he has to 
do such and such work. Is not there a law to punish those 
guilty of misconduct? If there is none, I shall say they should 
frame one. They should place on the whole people the respon- 
sibility they have placed on the Civil Service. It is after all a 
people’s government. 

Why do I have to say this? Because there has been a fresh 
development; the Congress has said that there should be a Par- 
liamentary Secretary attached to each Minister, and these Par- 
liamentary Secretaries should be not from among the I. C. S. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


245 


officers but from the ranks of the Congress or from among those 
supporting the Congress. Of course they will not work gratis. 
They will have to be paid salaries. If today we did not con- 
trol the Government with its immense financial resources, how 
could we have paid these salaries? But since we control the 
Government we must pay one a salary of Rs. 1,500 or Rs. 2,000, 
give him a house and other benefits, and call him a Parlia- 
mentary Secretary. I must say it pains me — be it a Parlia- 
mentary Secretary attached to the Prime Minister or to the 
Home Minister or any other Minister. Even if the Parliament 
— or rather the Congress Party — insists on creating such a post, 

does one have to work only for a salary? In that case India 

will become a worthless country. Was our strength born only 

today? Let us first produce some results. Let us sit down and 

assess how much we have produced in excess of what was pro- 
duced till August 14. Have we produced more grain, more cloth, 
more industrial goods? When people become industrious, earn 
money and become prosperous so that they can be generous 
in giving, then we can say that lustre has been added to India’s 
name and its worth has gone up. But today our per capita 
income is only Rs. 70. This is nothing. When this has doubled 
or risen even further and the rural incomes have also risen you 
can then ask the Government to pay more. But if our produc- 
tion does not increase and we go on increasing our expenditure, 
where shall we be? Take for instance a shop — and India is 
only a large shop — whose proprietor seeks from the manager an 
account of the sales every evening. If he is told the sale today 
has been worth Rs. 1,000 while yesterday it was worth only Rs. 
500 he is pleased. But when he is told that the expenditure 
has been of the order of Rs. 1,500, he will fly into a rage and 
start shouting at the manager. Shouting and abusing is bad 
no doubt and so is getting angry, but his point is well taken. 
If the income is Rs. 1,000 and the expenditure Rs. 1,500, where 
is he to find the Rs. 500 to balance the books? Today we have 
the money, so we go on a spree. Tomorrow it will be gone. It 
therefore pains me when we throw money away so recklessly. 
This will do for today. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 208-13 



200. LETTER TO KIRAN SHANKAR 

New Delhi, 

December 17, 1947 

DEAR KIRAN SHANKAR, 

Your letter. I had some talk with Satin Babu but what I 
said I do not recollect. Anyone who quotes me should produce 
my written word. I could have only discussed general principles. 

Tours sincerely, 
M. K. Gandhi 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 

201. LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAT 

December 17, 1947 

CHI. VALJI, 

I see no contradiction between the two replies. The only 
difference is that Tha. has enumerated more virtues. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 7508. Courtesy: Valji G. Desai 


* On top of the letter Gandhiji has made the following note in English: 
Tagore’s equations: 

Rama = ideal son 

= ideal brother 
= ideal husband 
= ideal ruler 



246 


Bharat 

Lakshman 

Sita 


ideal wife 



202. LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI 

December 17, 1947 

CHI. NARANDAS, 

You have given me quite a vivid description. We are living 
in critical times. Be vigilant. Khadi is not merely khadi, but 
includes many other things. Without these other things, khadi is 
no more than a peasant’s pankoru^. 

They say you have grown old. Could it be true? 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Bapuna Patro-9: Shri Narandas Gandhine, Part II, p. 320. Also C. W. 8649. 
Courtesy: Narandas Gandhi 


203. LETTER TO JAMNA GANDHI 

December 17, 1947 

CHI. JAMNA, 

I have your letter. Kanu and Abha can go there when they 
want. I think they are no more in a position to serve their own 
parents exclusively. Who can ride two horses at a time? The 
best course is to serve as well as you can and repeat the name 
of Rama, the dispeller of distress, whether or not you are in 
distress, and live as He keeps you. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


204. LETTER TO SHANKARLAL 


New Delhi, 

December 17, 1947 

CHI. SHANKARLAL, 

I got two letters from you. Nothing after that. I can under- 
stand that many friends come to you. But those whose presence 

^ A rich garment; literally, a silk sari, worn at a wedding 


247 



248 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

is not needed there should be asked to go back to their business. 
Keep them all well informed. This will stop the crowding 
around you, and allow the patients as well as their attendants to 
have some peace. It will also save money and time. Narahari 
will recover by and by. But he will have to have prolonged rest. 
Did the hailstorm cause heavy damage? 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


205. A LETTER 


December 17, 1947 

I am passing through a difficult time. I have not a mo- 
ment to spare. I am convinced that this communal conflict is 
not of the common people’s making. A handful of persons are 
behind it. Whose fault is it if I do not see amity even between 
these two . . .?' If the ocean itself catches fire, who can put it 
out? Falsehood has spread so much that one cannot say where 
it will end. 

If in that yajna, our struggle for freedom, we had been wholly 
negligent in preserving truth it is doubtful that we could have 
attained even this so-called swarajya. Truth is my only God. 
Truth alone to me is prayer, penance and the rest. I am a 
Hindu. I know that if the world were to adopt my Hinduism 
mankind would be free from all the worldly ills and man would 
live in a truly human manner. All this that I have dictated for 
you has just occurred to me after the prayer. 

My health is all right. It is no small mercy of God that 
even under such heavy burden of work the body continues to 
be fit. 

You would all be well. Ghi. Manu will write to you the 

rest. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 1 12-3 


Omission as in the source 



206. MESSAGE TO U. P. STUDENTS 


December 17, 1947 

I have your letter and invitation. I love being among stu- 
dents because I consider myself a student. But at present I am 
trapped here. Still, this too is a big school. I am being schooled 
here and am staying here for my examination. Whether 
I pass or not is in the hands of God. Both are the same to 
me. You should take your examination in the same spirit. I do 
not mean that you should only read books for your examination. 
I can say from experience that so long as our schools do not 
impart lessons in moral uplift there can be no awakening amongst 
us. Today the atmosphere in colleges and schools is not pure. 
First of all it should be purified. Today, though the students 
read so many books and spend so much money they are not 
free from anxiety, because they are not self-reliant. I want to 
change this pitiable condition and I want the students’ help in 
this. We shall remain crippled as long as we do not conduct 
our universities through crafts. 

Now swarajya has come. Let us all be brothers and sisters. 
Let no one be high and no one low. Let there be no Hindus, no 
Parsis, no Christians and no Jews. We should realize that we 
are only Indians, and that religion is a private matter. 

M. K. Gandhi 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 113-4 

207. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

New Delhi, 

December 17, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

A friend who is living in Hoshiarpur, maybe he belongs 
there, has asked me a number of questions. He has given his 
name, but I do not wish to disclose it. I shall leave his 

questions too. He says before the partition the Punjab was one, 
so that if someone had his business in one part he had his house 
and property in another. This friend had his business in West 

249 



250 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Punjab, while his house and property were in East Punjab. 
He had to flee West Punjab along with thousands of others. 
He thought since he had his property in East Punjab he would 
be able to carry on his business there. But he found on his 
arrival there that his house had been occupied by a Government 
official. He was given only two rooms, the rest being kept by 
the official. It would appear that it is a large house. He asks 
if he is not entitled to get back his house. If he does not get 
it back, will the Government help him or must he then go to 
court? In my opinion he should be given back the house. 
Why should litigation be forced on him? If the occupant is a 
Government official, it is all the more necessary for the house 
to be returned to its owner. 

As I had occasion to mention earlier, refugees tend to 
occupy any vacant premises anywhere, even breaking locks where 
they happen to be locked. So long as someone lives as a 
tenant in a house and pays rent it is all right. But how can he 
continue to live there when the owner of the house returns to 
the house? He can only stay there if he arrives at some 
understanding with the owner, but it cannot be that he should 
retain the major portion of the house and the owner should 
become a guest in his own house. But the refugees are not in 

the position of tenants. All that they can say for themselves is 

that they have been forced out of their houses. Does it give 
them the right to occupy any property? If such property hap- 
pens to be the house of a Muslim, then all is over. Refugees 

think it is theirs by right. But we can do no good either to 

ourselves or to India in this way. Has anyone ever done any 
good to himself by theft or plunder or arson? If this sort of 
thing goes on here, it must happen in Pakistan, too, and it will 
become impossible for anyone except Muslims to five in that 
country. I receive communications every day warning me 
against being taken in by sweet talk and telling me that no 
one except Muslims has any place in Pakistan. But if only 
Muslims are left in Pakistan in the end, they will then quarrel 
among themselves. Whether this sort of thing goes on in Pakis- 
tan or India, it is not good. It is worse in fact if it happens 
in India, for we never said that India belonged to Hindus alone 
or that only one community could five here. Everyone who is 
born in India and who considers himself an Indian has a right 
to stay in India. Pakistan however was conceived as a home- 
land of Muslims. But when Pakistan became a reality on August 
14 they said everyone would be able to five in Pakistan. This 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


251 


made me happy. What irks me is that what is said is often 
not implemented. And if the Hindus and Sikhs here do the 
same I see in it only the ruin of the two communities and of 
the world. No good can ever come of it. 

A friend from Lahore says he had to leave his house and 
property against his wishes. He was forced to flee West Punjab 
and come here. When I advised the refugees to go back he went 
back. He found that his house and land were no longer his. He 
was given long lectures but he was not given back his property. 
How then could I say that the refugees should go back? 

I have dealt with this question before but since he has 
raised it I shall say something again. I have very clearly said 
that the refugees should go back only when the circumstances 
have become more propitious. Those who would like to return, 
should keep themselves in readiness. First the Muslim friends 
who have taken the initiative in this respect have to go there. 
So far it is only an idea but it cannot remain only an idea in- 
definitely. They spoke in the name of the Pakistan Government. 
Or they will have to admit in the end that they have failed 
and that they were wrong in representing the Pakistan Govern- 
ment as desiring the Hindus to go back. The correspondent 
says that declarations are one thing and practice quite another 
and he wants to know whether he should go back. He has 
every right to ask. I must clearly say that at the moment there 
is no question of anyone going back. There are many people 
wanting to go back. I tell them that when the time comes for 
them to go back I shall let them know the date. I shall not 
ask anyone to go now. No one can really think of this at such 
an early stage, but it is very satisfying when these Muslim 
friends give this assurance. If they succeed I am sure that the 
present poison in the atmosphere will soon disappear. What 
needs to be done is to ensure that it will. For the present, how- 
ever, the correspondent and others like him should keep calm. 
When the time comes I shall let them know. After all no one 
wants to go to Pakistan secretly. What I hope is that the Pakis- 
tan Government will arrange for a train which can take 5,000 
people. They will go willingly and as a matter of right. They 
will go because they will have been invited. 

There is yet another matter I must speak about and that is 
East Africa. You may perhaps not know that Nairobi is the most 
salubrious part of East Africa. It is like Simla in India. We 
in India have four or five months that are quite good and then 
we have months of severe heat, especially severe in the plains. 



252 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


People then want cool air and go to Simla or Darjeeling for it. 
India is a big country. Not so East Africa. It was the Sikhs 
who built Nairobi. Sikhs are very sturdy and industrious people. 
With great labour they built a railway in Nairobi. And yet 
they are debarred from Nairobi. They may go there as labour- 
ers but not as settlers and traders. So much about Nairobi. But 
the thing does not stop there. Once the first step is wrong, you 
go wrong all the way. So now they propose to enact a Bill 
against Indian immigration into East Africa, very much on the 
lines of South Africa. Attempts are being made to take away 
such rights as the Indians have so far enjoyed. The Bill has 
not yet been passed but it has been introduced in the Legis- 
lative Assembly. The Indians there have hopes from us. They 
have sent a communication to Pandit Nehru, who is also our 
Foreign Minister in addition to being our Prime Minister. They 
have sent him a telegram and forwarded a copy to me. They 
want me to say something on the matter. Since I have been in 
Africa they have a claim on me. I therefore take this oppor- 
tunity to raise my voice. It will no doubt reach there. India 
is now a free country. Will free India be treated thus? Mom- 
basa and East Africa are British territories. Will the Indians be 
subjected to maltreatment in a British territory? You must 
know that there are a large number of Indian traders there — 
many of them Khoja and other Muslims. There are also 
many Hindus. They are from all parts of India. They have 
also earned a lot of money through their trade with the Negroes 
there. They have been there since long before the British en- 
tered the area. Even Europeans had not made their entry there 
and if they had they were not many in number. Indians 
have built large mansions there. Even ships then belonged to us. 
Later, when our position deteriorated, we lost the ships too. 

Afterwards the British and other Europeans followed. It is 
a long story into which I need not go. Indians lived in peace 
with the Negroes and did business with them. I shall not say 
they were always honest but certainly they did not take any- 
thing from anyone forcibly. There are no communal differences 
between Hindus and Muslims there. They are living in amity 
and harmony. They want this anti-Indian Bill to be withdrawn. 
It must be withdrawn. India is a free country and I am sure 
Jawaharlal will do what needs to be done in this regard. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 213-8 



208. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


December 18, 1947 

I do feel angry but only with myself. Why should I be 
angry with you? Even if a woman like you hesitates to accept 
her mistakes, I do not see that you are at fault; the fault really 
is mine. For you have been brought up under my care. The 
atmosphere there' perhaps was not pure and so you did not in- 
culcate all the virtues that make for sound character. And it was 
my responsibility to see that the atmosphere there was pure. I 
did not see to it. Hence I cannot disown my responsibility. In 
the same way I assumed that the satyagraha struggles were con- 
ducted solely on the basis of truth and non-violence. Today God 
has made me realize that that was not so. Hence I say that 
we make frantic efforts just to keep ourselves alive and there- 
fore we cannot see our mistakes. Our ahimsa is not ahimsa. 
It has been used as a weapon of the weak. It is himsa that 
passes by the name of ahimsa. That is why today rivers of 
blood are flowing everywhere. What the consequences may be is 
anybody’s guess. But seeing all this, people like you should take 
pity on an old man like me and pray to God to take me away. 
I know that today I irritate everyone. How can I believe that I 
alone am right and all others are wrong? What irks me is that 
people deceive me. They should tell me frankly that I have 
become old, that I am no longer of any use and that I should 
not be in their way. If they thus openly repudiate me I shall 
not be pained in the least. And I shall also then cultivate the 
indomitable strength needed to serve Daridranarayandl. I have 
only unburdened my heart to you. If possible let other girls 
read this. Your health will be all right. . . .^’s going to America 
is in the ofhng. I am not very keen about it. So I do not 
have full information as to what is being done in that regard. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 123-4 


' In the Ashram 
^ God in the form of the poor 
^ Omission as in the source 


253 



209. LETTER TO A MUSLIM 


December 18, 1947 

You of course come to see me every day. For a long time 
now I have been feeling that nationalist Muslims are perhaps 
a prey to fear. They come to me every day and talk a good 
deal but the impression I get is that they exaggerate somewhat. 
If we indulge in exaggeration it will do no good to anyone — 
be he Hindu or Muslim. If we think that we alone are right 
and suppress others in the belief that we are great and that 
therefore there is no harm in coercing others, we shall fall; we 
shall be deceiving ourselves. But if we are truthful we shall 
show fearlessness, discretion and earnestness in our conduct. 
If we are in error we should duly admit it. We shall not fall 
thereby, we shall only rise higher. 

M. K. Gandhi 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 122-3 

210. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 18, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

A correspondent writes to ask why I object to English 
being used, but not to Urdu. The Muslims and the English are 
the same to us since we are friends of all. The correspondent’s 
complaint arises out of ignorance. Not only do I not object 
to Urdu being used, I am its advocate. It is a provincial 
language like Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Oriya. 
There are as many languages as there are provinces in India. 
To be sure there are many more languages in India but scholars 
have selected 14 or 15 which have well-developed literatures 
and which are more developed than the rest. But all these 
14 or 15 languages cannot be used in all the provinces. The 
question also is what language should serve as a link language 
between the provinces. Ever since I returned from South Africa 

254 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


255 


I have been insisting that only a language which the largest 
number of Hindus and Muslims speak can be our national 
language. This can only be Hindustani written in the Devanagari 
or the Persian script. English has no place in India. The 
British ruled over India and so English became important. It 
is a foreign language, not an Indian language. Therefore I say, 
not reluctantly but proudly, that Urdu is an Indian language 
formed in India. We are all devotees of Tulsidas. You will be 
surprised to know that he has used any number of words of 
Arabic or Persian origin in his Ramayana. He just picked up 
words spoken in the streets and used them because Tulsidas 
was writing for you and me. He was not writing for the few 
speaking Sanskrit. The language of Tulsidas therefore is our 
language. 

Lala Lajpatrai^ was known as the Lion of the Punjab. He 
is now no more. He was a friend of mine and occasionally I 
jokingly used to ask him when he would learn to speak in 
Hindi. He said that would never be. You must know that he 
was an Arya Samajist^ and performed havan and other rituals. 
As I used to stay with him I observed all this. In these rituals 
Sanskrit alone is used and he was able to pick a few words 
here and there in Devanagari. But his mother tongue was Urdu. 
He was a great Urdu scholar, could write fluently in Urdu and 
could also deliver long orations in that language. He could also 
deliver long orations in English but he could never understand 
Sanskritized Hindi. I could make myself understood by him 
only when I used selected Arabic and Persian words. How then 
can the correspondent object to my not objecting to Urdu? I 
think no one should object to Urdu. English I certainly object 
to. I have been twice President of the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan^ 
and I said the same thing there and no one opposed it. They 
in fact applauded me. I am the same man. How then can 
anyone suggest that I love Hindi less and am therefore less of 
an Indian? In my view he who objects to Urdu is to that 
extent less of an Indian. 


^ (1865-1928); nationalist leader from the Punjab, educationist and 
journalist; organized a massive agrarian movement in the Punjab in 1907, and 
was deported to Burma; President of the Indian National Congress, 1920; 
died of injuries sustained during demonstration against Simon Commission 
2 A member of the Arya Samaj, a reformist sect of Hinduism, founded 
by Dayanand Saraswati 

^ In March 1918 and April 1935 



256 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Today we find ourselves in a mess and have created poi- 
son for ourselves. This is what happened in Ajmer. If you want 
to safeguard Hinduism you cannot do so by treating as enemies 
the Muslims who have stayed on in India. My days in this 
world are numbered. Soon I shall be gone. You will then realize 
that what I said was right. The same rule applies to Muslims. 
Islam will be dead if Muslims can tolerate only Muslims. The 
same goes for Christians and Christianity. All the religions of the 
world are good, for they teach righteousness and friendship. Those 
that teach enmity between men, I do not consider religions. 

Even during the British rule I had said that English could 
not be the language of India. I love the English language. I 
can read and write it. Everyone knows that I am not an enemy 
either of the English or their language. But everything has its 
place. English is an international language. If we want to 
deal with the world outside India, we can do so only through 
English. English is a universal language. Hindustani has not 
yet acquired that universality. It is a matter of sorrow that 
while we have freed ourselves of English rule, we have not been 
able to free ourselves of the impact of English culture and the 
English language. 

Hindustani is the language that has been formed through 
the blending of Hindi and Urdu like the confluence of the two 
rivers Ganga and Jamuna at Prayag. They share the same 
grammar which is the grammar of Hindustani. It has words 
from Sanskrit, Persian, English and various other languages. The 
word ‘court’ is as much a foreign word as ‘kachehari’ and there 
is no reason to reject the first and keep the latter. Similarly 
there are words like ‘bicycle’ and ‘rail’. By what name would 
you like to call a rail? The fact is that so many English words 
have got into our speech and we do not despise them. But 
if the correspondent had written to me in English, I would 
have thrown away the letter knowing that he did know Hindus- 
tani. Similarly if I were to send him any letter written in Eng- 
lish he would have the right to throw it away. The matter is 
really quite simple but we have forgotten what is right and what 
is wrong. And a kind of perversity has come to lodge in us. 
May God protect us. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 218-22 



211. LETTER TO REV. GARDES 


[ Decern her 19, 1947Y 

MY DEAR GARDES, 

Your letter. I am so glad you are there at last and in the 
room that was allotted to me. Make yourself at home and take 
up the work that suits you most. 

I had thought you were passing through Delhi. Did you 
not? Do write to me fully. 

Love. 

Bapu 

Rev. Gardes 
Sevagram^ 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


212. LETTER TO NAWAB OF BHOPAL 

New Delhi, 

December 19, 1947 

DEAR NAWAB SAHEB, 

Your kind wire reached me yesterday. I know the patients^ 
are in safe hands. Chandrani is a promising servant of humanity. 
I wonder who the assailants were. An inmate of the Ashram 
is going to see the patients and bringing this note to you. A 
note is going to Shwaib'* too. 

Tours sincerely, 

M. K. Gandhi 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* The letter is placed in the source among those of this date. 

^ The address is in Devanagari script. 

^ Chandrani and her mother, who were assailed by some miscreants 
near Bhopal Station. Chandrani was thrown out of the train. 

Shwaib Qureshi 

257 


90-17 



213. LETTER TO CHANDRANI 


December 19, 1947 

CHI. CHAND, 

What a girl you are! People went thrice to the railway 
station to receive you but you did not arrive. At last a dining-car 
attendant mentioned that two women had come for meals and 
that even the bill was unpaid; but no one knew what happened 
after that. My apprehension proved right.’ I learnt about it from 
the newspapers yesterday. Now I have all the details. Nawab 
Saheb has wired that you and your mother are out of danger. 
It’s all God’s grace. I hope you are both cheerful. You both 
are coming here soon, are you not? Take as much rest as 
the doctors advise. How were you attacked, who were the 
assailants? This is being brought to you by Om Prakash. Tell 
him everything if you cannot yourself write. Send him back soon. 
Your brother is ready to come. Would you like him to come? 
Whatever you say will be done. 

Pyarelal is here. 

Blessings to you both from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


214. LETTER TO CHIMANLAL JV. SHAH 

New Delhi, 

December 19, 1947 

CHI. CHIMANLAL, 

I have had a full discussion with Aryanayakum. I suggested 
to him that although you were the lawful manager he should 
regard himself as the de facto manager and act accordingly. It 
means no one should lay claim to that part of the Ashram 
which he requires for the Talimi Sangh. If he asks all the 
inmates of the Ashram to leave, no one should stay on. He 

’ When the addressee and her mother failed to arrive at Delhi as 
scheduled on the 17th, Gandhiji had jocularly remarked: “Someone might 
have thrown Chand out mistaking her to be a Punjabi.” 


258 



LETTER TO DEV PRAKASH NAYYAR 


259 


does believe that there is no difference between the inmates of 
the Ashram and the members of the Talimi Sangh or between the 
Ashram and the Talimi Sangh. He cannot do any good to the 
Talimi Sangh at the cost of that of the Ashram. I accept this 
fact in whatever I do, so should all of us. Moreover, he says 
that neither Jaju nor Krishnadas has the slightest misunder- 
standing about or mistrust of him, which they earlier had. I 
asked him to convey all this to you. I also asked him to 
write you a letter to this effect. He said that there was 
no need for a letter. Tell me if you wish to have any change 
in this. Tell me also if there has been any change. 

You are likely to have seen something about Chand in the 
newspapers. It’s a sad story. I cannot dictate any more. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


215. LETTER TO DEV PRAKASH N ATTAR 

December 19, 1947 

CHI. DEV, 

Read this letter from Hunar. What is it about? Talk with 
Hunar if you wish. Hand over my letter' to him. 

I have your letter. There are many articles of yours but 
I have not understood which of them you want back. I shall 
enquire from Pyarelal. 

You must have read the report about Chand in the news- 
papers. Everything is being done from this end. There is a wire 
from Nawab Saheb saying that there is no cause for worry. Om 
Prakash has come. He is leaving today. You must not worry 
at all. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


' Vide the following item. 



216. LETTER TO M. A. HUNAR 

December 19, 1947 

CHI. HUNAR, 

I have your letter. Probably it became your duty to stay on 
when Mahesh detained you. Pandit Sundarlal is here. He has 
not told me anything. I should at least have the opportunity 
to give a hearing. 

I do hope that there is only some misunderstanding some- 
where about Dev. I have always held that Dev cannot be 
tainted by Kaliyug^. I am sending on your letter to him. You 
should have a free and frank talk with him. 

General Shah Nawaz will be a little delayed. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


217. MESSAGE TO BIHAR 


December 19, 1947 

I am here but my heart is in Bihar. The peace that has 
been brought to Bihar should not suffer the slightest breach. 
Even if the whole of India should burn, Bihar must not lose 
its peace. If Bihar can do this, then just as the history of 
India’s freedom movement began with the Champaran Satya- 
graha^ and came to be written in letters of gold, similarly Bihar 
will occupy the place of glory in India’s history for aeons to 
come. Of this I have not the slightest doubt. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^II, p. 133 


' Last and worst of the fouryM^aj- (aeons) 

2 Launched in 1917 against the Tinkathia system, under which peasants 
had to grow indigo on 3/20 of their holdings at the will of the landlords. Vide 
Vol. XIII. 


260 



218. ADDRESS TO MEOS 


Jesarah, 

December 19, 1947 

Addressing a gathering mainly of the Meos Gandhiji remarked that his 
voice was not so powerful as it once used to be. There was a time when 
whatever he said was acted upon. If it had the original power, not a 
single Muslim should have found it necessary to migrate to Pakistan from 
the Indian Union or a single Hindu or Sikh to leave his hearth and home in 
Pakistan and seek asylum in the Indian Union. What had taken place — the 
orgy of murder, arson, loot, abductions, forcible conversions and worse that 
they had witnessed — was, in his opinion, unmitigated barbarism. True, such 
things were not unknown before, but there was not that wholesale communal 
discrimination. Tales of such happenings had filled him with grief and 
shame. Even more shameful was the demolition and desecration of mosques, 
temples and gurdwaras. Such madness, if it was not arrested, must spell 
ruin to both the communities. They were far from freedom while this 
madness reigned. 

What was the remedy, Gandhiji continued. He had no faith in the force 
of bayonets. He could only present to them the weapon of non-violence, 
which provided an answer to every emergency and which was invulnerable. 
It was common to all great religions — to Christianity no less than to 
Hinduism, etc., but it had today been reduced to a mere copy-book maxim 
by the votaries of religions and in practice they all followed the law of the 
jungle. His might be today a voice in the wilderness, said Gandhiji, but he 
had no other message to give them except this message of non-violence — of 
meeting the challenge of brute force with the power of the spirit. 

Gandhiji then referred to the representation which was read to him by 
a representative of the Meos in which had been catalogued their complaints 
for which they wanted redress. He had placed that letter, Gandhiji told 
the audience, in the hands of Dr. Gopichand, their Chief Minister and the 
speaker would leave it to him (Dr. Gopichand) to tell them what he proposed 
to do in regard to the various points set forth in it. All he could say 
was that if any Government officer had been guilty of misconduct, he was 
sure, the Government would not hesitate to take suitable action against 
him. No individual could be allowed to usurp the function of the Govern- 
ment and expect a reshuffle of Government offlcers at his bidding. He was 
clear too that no conversion or marriage of a woman to a member of the 
opposite community could be recognized as valid on the plea of consent 

261 



262 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

or free will. It was abuse of words to talk of free consent when terror 
reigned. 

He would feel happy, continued Gandhiji, if his words could bring 
some consolation to them in their distress. Referring to the Meo refugees 
who had been driven out of the Alwar and Bharatpur States, Gandhiji re- 
marked that he looked forward to the day when all enmities would be for- 
gotten and all hatred buried underground and all those who had been driven 
away from their hearths and homes would return to them and resume their 
avocations in perfect security and peace as before. His heart would then 
dance with joy. He would never give up that hope so long as he lived. 
But he was free to confess that today conditions were not ripe for it. He 
was sure that the Union Government would not be remiss in discharging 
its duty in that respect, and the States would have to listen to the advice 
of the Union Government. The Instrument of Accession did not give to the 
Rulers of the States the freedom to oppress their subjects. The Rulers had to 
be trustees and servants of their subjects if they wanted to retain their status. 

Gandhiji concluded by giving a word of advice to the Meos. He had 
been told, he remarked, that the Meos were almost like criminal tribes. If 
the statement was correct, it called for an all-out effort on their part to 
reform themselves. It should not be left to others to do the work of recla- 
mation. He hoped that the Meos would not resent his advice, but take it 
in the spirit in which it was offered. To the Government he would say that 
even if the allegation regarding the Meos was correct, that was no argu- 
ment for sending them away to Pakistan. The Meos were subjects of the 
Indian Union and it was its duty to help them to reclaim themselves by 
providing them with facilities of education and establishing settlements for 
them to settle in.* 

Harijan, 28-12-1947, and The Hindustan Times, 20-12-1947 


219. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 19, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Today I had to go to Gurgaon to see the Meos. The Meos 
there consist of refugees from Alwar and Bharatpur, besides those 
who are natives of the place. The East Punjab Premier Dr. 
Gopichand Bhargava accompanied me. He told the Meos that 

* The audience was then addressed by Dr. Gopichand Bhargava. On his 
way back to Delhi, Gandhiji visited an open-air camp of the Meos and 
talked with the people there. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


263 


those of them who wanted to stay could stay on. The Government 
would protect them. That hundreds of thousands had to leave 
their houses and properties in Pakistan was something barbarous. 
It was also a barbarous thing that people had to leave their 
houses and properties here. One cannot go into who committed 
more barbarities because such a discussion cannot end the enmity 
that has been generated. It should not be our fate to be 
eternal enemies of each other. It will only end in our ruin. 
I have said that I cannot tolerate this. Those who have made 
up their minds to go will certainly go but no one will be forced 
to go. There are men and women there in large numbers. All 
of them are in distress. Many of them have not even tents to 
shelter them and the days are so cold. It is a tragic sight. 
The Alwar State should admit its mistake and invite them back. 
The Bharatpur State should do the same. One cannot say that 
Meos are a criminal tribe. Who can say who is criminal 
and who is not? And will you exile those who are criminals? 
Will you kill them? This will never do. You have to reform 
them and educate them and show them the ways of civilized 
behaviour. 

My second topic today is sugar. Sugar is not produced 
everywhere. It has to be transported from the places where it 
is produced. If we do not have sugar here we have to bring 
it from the U. P. or Coimbatore, but how to do it? It can 
only be brought in railway wagons, but there are no wagons 
available. Dr. John Matthai who is in charge of the Railways is 
helpless. He says all the wagons are already in use and are be- 
ing fully utilized. Then there is a shortage of coal and iron and 
of staff. Also the producers of sugar keep on raising prices and 
after all it cannot be carried on one’s head. But though there 
is a shortage of railway wagons there is motor transport. A 
motor-truck runs as fast as a train and it does not require steel 
rails on which to ply. But motor transport requires petrol and 
petrol is still a controlled article. If the control over petrol is 
lifted the trucks and lorries will start plying more easily and 
haul goods from one place to another. The movement of salt 
can also become more smooth. It is paradoxical that we pro- 
duce so much salt and there is no tax on it any more, and yet 
it is so costly. That is because supplies do not arrive. In my 
view it has been a mistake to appoint contractors for producing 
and supplying salt. If petrol is decontrolled trucks can be used 
for carrying salt and several other things. It does not seem 
right to decontrol certain articles and continue control over 



264 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Others. When we have adopted decontrol as a policy we must 
pursue it fully and see what happens. You cannot say there is 
no petrol in the market. Black-market is flourishing in petrol 
and it will continue to flourish so long as the control over it is 
not lifted. I am told that corruption has also increased, that it 
is necessary to grease the palm of the petroleum officer and it 
is not a question of a rupee or two but of hundreds of rupees. 
Petrol is required only by those who run motor transport. The 
Government should retain what petrol it needs for itself and 
release the rest to be sold in the open market. Of course even 
if petrol should become virtually extinct and trains should 
become immobilized, the country’s alfairs will not stop. Only 
the mode of transport will be changed. We will revert to old 
ways. I have therefore no fears from the control over petrol 
being lifted. 

We do not produce enough foodgrain for ourselves. We 
may tell people to cultivate whatever land they have but for 
this one is told that fertilizers are required for the import of which 
we have to spend crores of rupees. The fertilizers cause erosion 
of the soil. This is not what I say. It is what those who know 

the subject say. Mirabehn has been doing this work. She con- 

vened a conference of experts.^ Some very important people 
were with her in this. There was Rajendra Babu and Sir Datar 
Singh and various others who know something about the sub- 
ject. The conclusions of the Conference are in the newspapers. 
It recommended ways to make compost and what is called 
organic manure. We have dung in plenty; then there is also 
human faeces which can make very good manure. After it is 
converted into compost nobody can say how it was made. If 
you take it in hand it has a pleasant smell, not an unpleasant 
one. In making compost they also mix grass, leaves and other 

farmyard waste with the dung and in time it is converted into 

very good manure. The Conference also passed many resolu- 
tions but the substance was that we should all work hard at 
agriculture and grow four maunds where only one maund grew 
before. Mirabehn has left today. She lives in Rishikesh near 
Hardwar. She intends to carry on this work there. I thought 
I would tell you about this so that you can make what use 
you can of the information. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 222-6 

* The All India Compost Conference; vide pp. 269-71. 



220. LETTER TO DEV PRAKASH NATTAR 

5 a. m., December 20, 1947 

CHI. DEV, 

Yesterday I wrote a letter to you which will have reached 

you. 

Don’t worry about Chand. Her mother’s brother met me 
yesterday. 

Pyarelal read “The Call of the Hour” yesterday. I have 
read it by now. The ideas are good. The last portion requires 
more thought. I have made no effort to revise it; that would 
require more time and from where can I have it? It is not 
easy to form an association. First, discuss the matter with a few 
people, then proceed further. Anyway, it is for you to consider 
what the atmosphere prevailing there* demands. Of course, you 
must consult Mahesh. If he disapproves you may give up the 
idea. There is no harm in printing it as an essay after it has 
been trimmed. 

Enclosed with the letter to you yesterday were a letter from 
Hunar and also my letter to him. 

I do not understand what you have written in your letter to 
Sushila. I cannot imagine stopping any work that is being carried 
on in my name. I have not given up either Noakhali or Calcutta 
or Bihar. In any of these three places, as here, I have only to 
do or die. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


221. ERAGMENT OE A LETTER 

December 20, 1947 

I am now an old man; and maybe the country is exper- 
iencing, in your sense, the surge of freedom. I do not see the 
joy of it on any face. It may be that since I myself feel no joy 


In Bihar 


265 



266 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


my eyes cannot see any. Does not a jaundiced person see only 
yellow? If everybody practised his own dharma our condition 
would immediately improve. Atman itself is atman’s friend and 
foe.i 

It is quite true that . . A has no use for non-violence and truth. 
But of what worth are non-violence and truth today? Truth is 
not a piece of stone. It is a diamond more valuable than the 
Koh-i-noor and requires much more hard labour to mine. . . J 
But those who are today engaged in demoniacal activity will find 
it difficult to understand the experiment in truth. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 139-40 


222. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

New Delhi, 
December 20, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

It is a matter of grief that there has been rioting again in 
Delhi. It has been of a minor nature, but still it is regrettable. 
If it is our wish that Muslims should leave India, we should say 
so clearly or the Government may declare that it will not be 
safe for Muslims to continue to live in India. Or we should all 
tell them that rather than be killed off slowly in riots, it would 
be better for them to go. But if we do so I see in it the doom 
of Hinduism and Sikhism. Likewise it will be the doom of Islam if 
Pakistan decides that no Hindus and Sikhs may live there. There 
are not very many Muslims left in India. We have already expelled 
a large number. They did not go voluntarily. They were com- 
pelled to leave. I wish we could become brave and noble and 
courageous. It is only a coward who will say that a Muslim may 
not stay in India. Why can’t a Muslim stay in India? If he is 
bad he must be reformed — not through violence but by persuasion. 
Why have we come to this pass that Hindus and Sikhs should 
live in fear in Pakistan and Muslims should live in fear in India? 
And yet we make the tall claims that everyone can live in our 
country in peace. I tell the Government that they must see that 
our promises are fulfilled. The army, the police and the officials 
have all to become good. If we behave decently we can make 

' Bhagavadgita, VI. 5 

^ ^ Omissions as in the source 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 267 

progress. If not, the reins of power that have come into our 
hands will slip away. 

I have not yet told you all that happened at the meeting 
of the Charkha Sangh. The charkha is the pivot of the village 
industries. If the charkha does not ply in the seven lakh vil- 
lages of India the other village industries cannot flourish. The 
charkha is the sun while the other village industries are the pla- 
nets revolving around it. If the sun should become extinct the 
planets cannot go on, for they depend on the sun. For India 
the sun is the wheel which you can see enshrined in the flag. 
It does not matter whether you see it as the Sudarshan Chakra 
[of Krishna] or the Dharma Chakra of Ashoka. In my eyes 
it is the symbol of the spinning-wheel. If that charkha goes on 
in the villages of India other village industries will also go on. 
But we shall have to see that they go on, because if they 
decline the charkha also will decline. There are many villages 
around Delhi. The villages supplied so many things. Today 
all those things are not procurable. Perhaps you do not know, 
although you should, that Delhi was full of Muslim craftsmen. 
They have all left. Look at Panipat. There were many Muslims 
there, weaving blankets and making such other things. Today 
their trade is ruined. If Muslim craftsmen leave India it is 
India’s loss. What is the reason for our flghting in Kashmir? 
I consider it barbarous for the tribal raiders to have attacked 
Kashmir; we had to send an army to fight them. 

Yesterday I told you that Mirabehn had taken up the work 
of compost-making and that the Government was helping her. We 
can all carry on this work in our homes. We can collect human 
waste, cow-dung and vegetable waste — which mix beautifully and 
turn out to be an excellent manure — smelling good. 

The work of the Village Industries and the Charkha Sangh 
can go on only if the masses take it up. All the four organiza- 
tions, namely, the Charkha Sangh, the Harijan Sevak Sangh, the 
Gramodyog Sangh and the Talimi Sangh had been formed for the 
masses, not for the rich. Everyone should co-operate in the work 
of these bodies. If we want true democracy to be established in 
India, we must all co-operate in furthering that work. It is only 
the people who can make a success of any work. The people 
provide the foundation on which alone we can raise a structure 
of any height. But if we only continue our internecine strife we 
shall meet with the same fate as the Yadavas did. Krishna, you 
will remember, belonged to the Yadava clan and yet because they 
strayed from the right path they took to drinking, debauchery 



268 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


and fighting among themselves. The result was that they met 
with a sad end. If we want that India should avoid that fate 
we should all take in hand the activities pursued by the four 
organizations I have mentioned. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 226-9 


223. LAWS OF HEALTH 

Shri Brijlal Nehru, himself a faddist like me, has written 
to the Press belauding the statement of the Minister of Health 
that “a very great deal of our ill-health is due to our own fault” 
and saying that there is to his knowledge no governmental 
agency responsible for removing this fault. He adds: 

The attention of our Health Minister has so far been confined to 
the establishment of hospitals, sanatoria, clinics, dispensaries, etc., 
i. e., devices for the treatment of disease; no institutions have been 
founded for the prevention of disease by bringing home to the people 
the need of correct living and the methods of doing so. 

He then goes on to suggest that a separate branch be 
established to attend to the promotion of health as distinguished 
from treatment of disease. This agency may be given the assist- 
ance of an advisory body of both experts and laymen so that 
the experts may devise their schemes with the full knowledge of 
the requirements of the people and the limitations under which 
they have to live and work. 

Why does this fellow-faddist want a separate branch for this 
very necessary purpose? This was the fashion under the old 
regime which went on piling expenditure on expenditure and de- 
luded itself and the gullible public that the greater the expense 
the greater the utility. I would have the Minister of Health re- 
quire the doctors under her and the other staff understand that 
their first care must be the attainment and preservation of the 
health of the public whom they are paid to serve. 

As a preliminary step the writer 

would have the production of a book on health laws and correct 
living in the conditions prevailing in India. To carry weight with the 
public, the book must be brought out under the authority of the 
Health Ministry of the Government of India. . . .* The duty of writing 


^ Omission as in the source 



COMPOST MANURE 


269 


such a book may be entrusted to the Indian Medical Association, 
who should be required to produce it within a stated time. A transfer 
of emphasis from disease to health in the teaching given in our medi- 
cal colleges would in itself be most desirable. 

Indeed, the teaching of the laws of health should be obli- 
gatory in all schools and colleges. If the treatise recommended 
by Shri Brijlal Nehru is brought out, I hope the authors 
would be instructed to avoid the introduction of disease under 
the guise of preserving health such as the craze for various 
inoculations. 

New Delhi, December 21, 1947 
Harijan, 28-12-1947 


224. COMPOST MANURE^ 

An All India Compost Conference was held in New Delhi 
during the month to consider the question of compost develop- 
ment on the widest scale possible. It was the conception of 
Shrimati Mirabehn and was presided over by Dr. Rajendra Prasad. 
Sardar Datar Singh, Dr. Acharya and other eminent men in 
the line took part in it. Several important resolutions were 
passed by it on schemes for towns and villages. A sub- 
committee consisting of Shrimati Mirabehn, Shri Shivakumar 
Sharma, Dr. B. N. Lai and Dr. K. G. Joshi (with Dr. B. N. 
Lai as convener) was appointed to prepare a skeleton scheme 
for the provinces. The resolutions emphasized the necessity of 
“the agricultural utilization of town sewage, sullage and sludge, 
the utilization of the by-products of the slaughter-house and 
other trade wastes (for example, wool waste, mill waste, leather 
waste, etc.) and for the composting of other materials like water- 
hyacinth, cane-trash, press mud, forest leaves, etc.” 

These resolutions are good and useful if they do not remain 
merely on paper. The chief thing is whether they would be 
reduced to practice throughout India. To do so will tax the 
resources of many Mirabehns. Given the willing co-operation of 
the masses of India, this country can not only drive out short- 
age of food, but can provide India with more than enough. 
This organic manure ever enriches, never impoverishes the soil. 
The daily waste, judiciously composted, returns to the soil in 

* For the Gujarati article on the same subject, vide the following item. 



270 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


the form of golden manure causing a saving of millions of rupees 
and increasing manifold, the total yield of grains and pulses. 
In addition, the judicious use of waste keeps the surroundings 
clean. And cleanliness is not only next to godliness, it promotes 
health. 

New Delhi, December 21, 1947 
Harijan, 28-12-1947 


225. COMPOST MANURE 

Manure may be described as of two kinds: chemical and 
organic. One might ask how manure could be organic? The 
word “organic” is from English. Organic manure is made 
from human and animal excreta mixed or not mixed with 
grass, leaves and other such things. We do not regard plants as 
lifeless but we do regard iron, etc., to be so. Manure formed from 
such mixture is called “compost” in English. I consider such 
manure as valuable as gold. It keeps the soil ever fertile. It 
does not erode the soil and make it barren. It is said that 
chemical fertilizers destroy the humus of the soil as also bacteria 
and makes it necessary to keep the soil fallow after every few 
years of cultivation. Moreover organic manure prevents the 
breeding of pests. 

Under Mirabehn’s inspiration and through her efforts a 
Conference was called in Delhi this month to popularize such 
manure among the people. It was presided over by Dr. Rajendra 
Prasad. It was attended by Sardar Datar Singh, Dr. Acharya 
and others who are experts in this field. After three days of 
deliberation they passed several important resolutions. In these 
resolutions they have pointed out what should be done in cities 
and in the seven lakh villages. The Conference has suggested 
the method of mixing human and animal excreta, garbage, rags 
and factory waste, in rural and urban areas. For this purpose 
a small sub-committee has been formed. 

The face of India will change if the resolutions do not 
remain on paper and crores of people put them into actual prac- 
tice. We will be then able to save golden manure worth crores of 
rupees which is being wasted because of our ignorance. The soil 
will become fertile and we will get better crops than what we are 
getting. As a result we will be rid of famines, crores of people 
will get enough to eat and the surplus can be exported. 



LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI 271 

Today our crops are in the same poor condition as our men 
and animals. The fault is not of the soil but of the people. 
The worms of lethargy and ignorance are eating into us. 

The task undertaken by Mirabehn is of immense magnitude. 
It will require thousands of Mirabehns. People should take up 
the work with zest and Government departments should be 
awake. Merely a few volunteers will not be able to do the work 
which requires crores of men. We should have an army of 
volunteers. 

Is India so fortunate? Here India means both the parts. If 
the southern part takes up the work one may be sure the 
northern part will also take it up. 

New Delhi, December 21, 1947 

[From Gujarati] 

Harijanbandhu, 28-12-1947 

226. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHL 

New Delhi, 
December 21, 1947 

CHI. CHHAGANLAL, 

I have seen your letter and the note you gave to Dr. Din- 
shaw and Jehangir. I like the note. It was good that you went 
with the gentlemen.' I think they are both noble, circumspect, 

patriotic and industrious. There is a letter from Jehangir inform- 
ing me that they will be seeing me next week. 

Let us hope that by God’s grace the atmosphere of Kathiawar 
will not be vitiated. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


' Vide “Letter to Narandas Gandhi”, p. 178. 



227. LETTER TO LILAVATI ASAR 


New Delhi, 

December 21, 1947 

CHI. LILI, 

I have your postcard. So you have found a place. You de- 
serve congratulation. I deem it your good fortune that you have 
an opportunity to study under a man like Dr. Mangaldas Shah. 
You should not be put out by his severity. You should welcome 
it and benefit from it. If someone wants to improve us and in 
so doing corrects us, takes us to task in the presence of others, 
we should be pleased rather than annoyed. More so when the 
person happens to be our teacher. If a doctor makes a mistake, 
the patient has to pay for it — at times with his life. One should 
therefore look for a teacher who does not condone mistakes. 

You must get rid of your tendency to worry. That the 
pain in your feet should persist I don’t like. You must go to a 
doctor and find a cure for it. It will be a crime to be careless 
or lazy in this matter. 

You must devote yourself to your studies without being im- 
patient. You must think of nothing else for the present. Ponder 
and digest what you read. The student who is given to cram- 
ming is considered a fool of the first water. 

I am quite well. So is everyone else. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


272 



228. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

December 21, 1947 

. . So long as saintliness is not of the heart, it is of no 
value to me. If saintliness is hypocritical it will destroy itself. 

I am not certain how long I shall have to be here. I must 
do or die. And since I am resolved to die I do pray to God 
that He may fulfil the wish. All of you too should make the 
same prayer. 

In Delhi, during day-time, many incidents, small and big, 
keep occurring. I have been and continue to be patient beyond 
measure. In the end it will be as Rama commands me. Thus 
I dance as He pulls the strings. I am in His hands and so I 
am experiencing ineffable peace. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 145 

229. NOTES 

A Worthy Example 

Shri Dilkhush Divanji of Karadi fame reports the glorious 
death at his post of one of his staunch workers. The late Valji- 
bhai was the nephew of Panchakaka, the famous farmer of 
Karadi, who took part in the no-tax campaign of BardolF. He 
never wavered. He refuses even now to till his land or to pay 
the tax. He rightly says that there is no swaraj of his dream 
so long as we need the police to guard our homes and the mili- 
tary to protect us from ourselves. The deceased left a lucrative 
job and purely from a patriotic motive became a weaver. He 
proved worthy of his uncle and died in harness. No man can 
wish for a nobler death than Valjibhai’s. It is to be wished that 
the weavers who were trained by him would multiply themselves. 
If India is to come to her own, she needs thousands of weavers 
who will weave nothing but hand-spun yarn and expects every 

' Omission as in the source 

2 From February to August 1928 

273 

90-18 



274 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


man and woman and child above six years to spin good yarn 
daily for at least half an hour. Such is Divanji’s dream and 
Valjibhai died for its realization. 

Stock Grain in Villages 

Shri Vaikunth Lallubhai Mehta writes to say that in view of 
general decontrol it is imperative that there should be sufficient 
grain stocked in the hands, if possible of the village panchayats, 
not for profiteering, but as an insurance against scarcity by what- 
ever cause induced. His original letter is in Gujarati which I 
have reproduced and dealt with in the Gujarati columns.’ Here 
has been given the pith of his argument. I have always held that 
whatever may be said in favour of cash payment of taxes, its 
introduction injured the nation to the extent that the system of 
stocking grain in the villages was disturbed. The conservation of 
grain in the villages is needed for the reason already mentioned. 
The condition always must be that the growers and dealers must 
not be greedy or unscrupulous. When this simple honesty becomes 
common, the consumer cannot be cheated. There is no question 
of high or low prices when a nation’s economics are put on a 
sound basis and when all parties have an income commensurate 
with the expenditure required for the necessaries of life. 

The Gates of Somnath? 

Pandit Sundarlal has contributed to the Hindustani columns 
an interesting article^ on the reputed gates of Somnath. The 
curious must see the original. The main point made by the writer 
is that the gates which were taken away to Ghazni were never 
brought back as then stated. The gates were a fabrication and 
when the fraud was discovered the exhibition of the ‘gates’ never 
travelled beyond Agra. Pandit Sundarlal is anxious that by an 
oversight the fabrication might not be used in the projected 
renovation of the famous temple. 

New Delhi, December 22, 1947 
Harijan, 28-12-1947 


’ Vide the following item. 

2 Which appeared in Harijan Sevak, 28-12-1947, under the title 
“Somnathka Mandir” 



230. MEED EOR STORING GRAIN IN VILLAGES 


Shri Vaikunthbhai writes: 

Under the present trading system the grain produced in the villages 
is being sent out. Therefore in many parts of the country the villages 
are left with no stocks of grain. As a result the poor have to face 
hardships and there is a steep rise in prices during the monsoon. To 
save the poor from such a plight, it is desirable that some grain should 
be stocked in villages under the care of the Panch, and only the surplus 
should be sent out. With this end in view Shri Achyut Rao Patwar- 
dhan and I had prepared a scheme four years ago. Shri Kumarappa 
has also acknowledged the need for such a scheme in his plan. 

If the scheme meets with your approval, under the present changed 
circumstances you may kindly recommend it to the Provincial Govern- 
ments and the villagers. 

I think the suggestion has something in it. Such stocks are 
necessary in the economic conditions of the country. Ever since 
the system of collecting revenue in cash was introduced, the stocks 
of grain in the villages have diminished. I shall not go into the 
merits or demerits of the cash revenue system; but I do believe 
the country could have been saved from the present difficult situa- 
tion if we had continued to stock grain in the villages. Now that 
the controls are being removed no one will suffer any hardship 
if the grain is stocked as suggested by Vaikunthbhai and if the 
villagers and the traders become honest. If the farmers and the 
traders get a fair margin of profit there can be no high prices for 
the working class and other people in the cities. What really mat- 
ters is that necessaries of life should be within the reach of every 
one. There can then be no question of high or low prices. 

New Delhi, December 22, 1947 
[From Gujarati] 

Harijanbandhu, 28-12-1947 


275 



231. TRIBUTE TO VALJIBHAT 


New Delhi, 

December 22, 1947 

India, indeed the world, has had few dedicated servants like 
the late Valjibhai. He has proved the truth of the saying: “As 
the tree so the fruit, as the father, so the son.” Panchakaka’s 
pledge will remain without parallel. We have not attained true 
Swaraj yet. At present it seems quite far away. Why is it that 
we have only six or seven weavers as good as Valjibhai ? Can it 
be claimed that we have won swaraj with the power of Karadi ? 

M. K. Gandhi 

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: M. M. U. /XXIII 


232. LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU 

Birla House, New Delhi, 

December 22, 1947 

DEAR PANDITJI, 

Maulana Shaheed and some other Maulanas of Delhi came to Bapu 
yesterday and told him that recent happenings in Delhi had well-nigh driven 
the local Muslims to desperation. They wanted to be told definitely and 
authoritatively as to whether the Government really wanted to keep them 
in the Indian Union or would prefer their going away. In the former case 
the Government’s declaration of policy would need to be followed by sui- 
table action. They suggested a joint meeting with you, the Sardar and the 
Maulana Sahib in Bapu’s presence. Bapu has asked me to convey to you 
that he would be available for the purpose at any time that may suit you.^ 

Tours sincerely, 
Pyarelal 

Sardar Patel’s Correspondence, Vol. IV, p. 410 


’ This also appeared in Harijanbandhu, 28-12-1947. Vide also “A Worthy 
Example”, under “Notes”, pp. 273-4. 

^ The addressee along with Vallabhbhai Patel met Gandhiji on the 
evening of December 26. 

276 



233. LETTER TO DR. BANERJEE 


New Delhi, 

December 22, 1947 

DEAR DR. BANERJEE, 

Your letter. Have I not said every [worthy] cause carries 
its own blessings? The rest is superfluous. 

Tours sincerely, 

M. K. Gandhi 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


234. LETTER TO V. L. MEHTA 


New Delhi, 

December 22, 1947 

BHAI VAIKUNTH, 

I have your letter. I understand about Shamaldas. I am 
sending the portion regarding grain to Harijan.^ 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

Shri Vaikunth Lallubhai Mehta 

Andheri 

Bombay 

From the Gujarati original: V. L. Mehta Papers. Courtesy: Nehru 
Memorial Museum and Library 


1 Vide p. 275. 


277 



235. LETTER TO TASHWANTKUNWARBA^ 

December 22, 1947 

RESPECTED SISTER, 

His Highness the Maharaja^ informed me that you were ill 
and bed-ridden. I was grieved to hear it. May God give you 
peace of mind. Keep repeating Ramanama. I believe it to be 
an unfailing remedy. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 7745 


236. LETTER TO KANU GANDHI 

December 22, 1947 

CHI. KANAM^, 

I see from your letters that you are not only steadily im- 
proving your handwriting but are also becoming mature in your 
thinking. Continue to grow in wisdom in the same way as you 
grow in age. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 9524. Courtesy: Kanu Gandhi 


’ Rajmata of Kishangarh, who was suffering from cancer 
^ Of Bhavnagar, addressee’s nephew, who carried this letter to the ad- 
dressee 

^ Son of Ramdas Gandhi 


278 



237. LETTER TO BACHU 


New Delhi, 

December 22, 1947 


CHI. BACHU, 

Of course I don’t have time but since it is a Monday' I 
am writing this much. If you have appendicitis there is no cause 
for worry. You will soon be all right after an operation. Don’t 
be afraid. Stop writing with a lead pencil, for the writing fades 
out. I hope Kumi^ is all right. If Manu^ has returned tell 
her that I got her letter. It did not call for an answer. I hope 
she has come back recovered. I am sure Baby is enjoying her- 
self. Has she made any progress in reading? 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


238. LETTER TO RAMDAS GANDHI 


New Delhi, 

December 22, 1947 

chi. RAMDAS, 

Your letter. Someone did mention to me that you were 
coming. I forget who it was. I was glad that we were going to 
meet. But it is perfectly all right that you stayed back. What 
needs to be considered is whether you can rest while you are 
there. 

It is true that I crushed my finger. I had a sharp shooting 
pain which gave me a reeling sensation. It was nothing to worry 
about. In fact I had gone to a meeting'*. The pain subsided in 
a minute or two and I addressed the meeting. When I got out 
of the car Brijkishan slammed the door without looking around 
and my finger which happened to be there got crushed. I am 
no doubt careful but even a careful person does meet with such 

* Gandhiji usually observed silence on Monday. 

^ Kumi Adalaja, Harilal Gandhi’s wife’s sister 

^ Daughter of Harilal Gandhi, married to Surendra Mashruwala 

'* Of the Constructive Works Committee on December 1 1 


279 



280 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


accidents. Sumi^ has come here, along with another girl and a 
boy. It is about Radhakrishna. Hope all of you are well. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


239. LETTER TO SHARDA H. KOTAK 

December 22, 1947 

CHI. SHARDA, 

I have two letters from you, one written with a lead pencil. 
One should not write with a lead pencil. Luckily Dada^ is here 
and this will go with him. Do as he says. I shall have a talk 
with him in detail. Everything yours is there. Write to me 
from time to time. No one else need be consulted. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


240. NOTE TO MANU GANDHI 

December 22, 1947 

What you say is also worth considering.^ You should tell 
Panditji'*. But I see no harm in it. Even as it is what is my 
word worth now? And what is it to me whether my word has 
any worth left or not? I am certainly going to say whatever I 
think is true. I do not find any merit in the belief that a man 
can judge another man. Only the Almighty can judge us. All 
will be well with us if we are faithful to Him and fear Him. 
Instead of bothering about what would please men we should con- 
cern ourselves with what would please God. Only then will our 
path become easy. 

Is it not enough if, instead of worrying about other people’s 
affairs, you and I can do this ? See, how badly you have caught 

' Sumitra, addressee’s daughter 

^ Lakshmidas Asar 

^ Manu Gandhi had remarked that frequent reference to the same 
subject by Gandhiji, Sundarlal and others would only irritate people and 
such utterances would become ineffective. 

^ Sundarlal 



LETTER TO KUNDANLAL FIRODIA 


281 


a cold. You had fever last night. You must take hot water. It 
does not matter if you cannot do anything else but if you learn 
to fulfil the duty towards the body you can do much work for 
me. Your heart and mind are sound, but your hands and feet 
are weak. See what pass India has come to because of lack of 
co-operation and how I am shouting for harmony. You should 
learn from it that however strong your heart and mind may be, if 
there is no strength in your hands and feet your progress will stop. 
And are you going to let me down? 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 153-4 

241. LETTER TO KUNDANLAL EIRODIA 

New Delhi, 

December 22, 1947 

BROTHER FIRODIA, 

Why did you write to me in English? 

I understand about Visapur. It will be desirable if we know 
the names and addresses of girls. It is good that you have in- 
formed me. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

Shri Kundanlal Firodia 

Dodkokere 

Sikar 

Ahmednagar 
Bombay Province 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 7917 



242. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 

New Delhi, 

December 22, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Some eight or ten miles from here, at Mehrauli, there is a 
shrine of Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Chisti. Esteemed as second only to 
the shrine at Ajmer, it is visited every year not only by Muslims 
but by thousands of non-Muslims too. Last September this shrine 
was subjected to the wrath of Hindu mobs. The Muslims living 
in the vicinity of the shrine for the last 800 years had to leave 
their homes. I mention this sad episode to tell you that, though 
Muslims love the shrine, today no Muslim can be found any- 
where near it. It is the duty of the Hindus, Sikhs, the officials 
and the Government to open the shrine again and wash off this 
stain on us. The same applies to other shrines and religious places 
of Muslims in and around Delhi. The time has come when both 
India and Pakistan must unequivocally declare to the majorities 
in each country that they will not tolerate desecration of religious 
places, be they small or big. They should also undertake to 
repair the places damaged during riots. 

Muslims have asked me whether, in view of the decision of 
the Muslim League in Karachi^, members of the Muslim League 
should take part in the Conference called by Maulana Azad in 
Lucknow^ and also whether Muslims might participate in the 
Conference of the Muslim League in Madras, and in any case 
what should be the course to be adopted by the members of the 
Muslim League in India. I have not the least doubt that if 
they receive a personal or public invitation they should attend the 
Conferences in Lucknow and Madras. They should fearlessly and 
openly declare their views at these meetings. If they have learnt 

’ As Gandhiji was observing silence, this was read out at the meeting. 

2 The Council of the All-India Muslim League had passed a resolution 
in Karachi on December 15, bifurcating the Muslim League into two bodies 
— one for Pakistan and the other for India. 

^ The Indian Union Muslims’ Conference was scheduled to be held in 
Lucknow on December 27 and 28 under the presidentship of Abul Kalam 
Azad. Members of the Provincial Assemblies, the Constituent Assembly and 
various Muslim organizations had been invited to attend it. 


282 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


283 


anything from the 30 years of non-violent struggle they should not 
worry that they are in a minority in the Indian Union and that 
the majority in Pakistan can be of no help to them. It does 
not need belief in non-violence to see that a minority however 
small it may be has no reason to feel afraid for its honour and 
for the things it holds dear. If man could but know his Maker 
and realize that he himself is a reflection of that Maker, no 
power on earth can take away his self-respect. No one can take 

away my self-respect; I can only lose it. During my struggle 

against the mighty Government of the Transvaal, a dear English 
friend of mine in Johannesburg used to tell me, “I always like 
to be with a minority, for a minority as a rule does not commit 
mistakes, and even if it does it can be rectified. But a majority is 
drunk with power and it is difficult to reform it.” If by majority 
the friend also meant one-sided armed might he was right. We 
know from bitter experience how a handful of Englishmen had 
transformed themselves into a majority through force of arms and 
how they dominated the whole of India. India lacked arms 

and, even if the arms had been there, we did not know how to 

use them. It is a matter of regret that Hindus and Sikhs have 
not learnt a lesson from the British rule in our country. The 
Muslims of the Union suffered from false pride in their majority 
in the East and the West. Today they are rid of that burden. 

If they now see the virtues of being a minority they will show 

the beauties of Islam in their own way. They must remember 

that the best days of Islam were the days of the Prophet Moham- 

med’s minority in Mecca. Christianity began to decline after 
the time of Constantine’. I do not want to prolong the argu- 
ment here. My advice emanates from my faith and if Muslim 
friends do not have this faith they are free to reject it. 

In my view they should all be prepared to join the 
Congress. But they must not apply for entry into that body till 
they are sure of a hearty welcome and equality of treatment. In 
principle there is no question of majority and minority so far as 
the Congress is concerned. The Congress follows no religion unless 
it be a religion of humanity. It treats men and women alike. 
It is a purely political body in which Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, 
Christians, Parsees and Jews are all equal. The Congress has not 
always been able to practise what it preached. This sometimes 
created an impression among the Muslims that it was a caste 


’ Emperor of Rome (306 A. D. to 337 A. D.) who made Christianity the 
State religion 



284 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Hindu organization. In any case as long as this kind of tug of 
war goes on Muslims should keep away with dignity. When the 
Congress wants their services they should come into the Congress. 
Till then they can be servants of the Congress as I am a servant 
of the Congress. Although I am not a four-anna member of the 
Congress I have a voice in that organization, and that is because 
ever since 1915 when I returned from South Africa I have been 
loyally serving the Congress. If every Muslim similarly serves the 
Congress he will find that his services are similarly appreciated. 

Today every Muslim is considered a supporter of the League 
and therefore an enemy of the Congress. This has been the 
unfortunate result of the teachings of the League. Today there 
is no cause left any more for enmity. Four months are a very 
short time for getting rid of the poison of communalism. It is 
the misfortune of India that Hindus and Sikhs took this poison 
to be nectar and made themselves the enemies of the Muslim 
League. In returning brickbat for brickbat they brought a 
stain to their name and put themselves in the same category as 
Muslims. I appeal to the Muslim minority to raise themselves 
above this poisonous atmosphere, to remove the suspicion that 
had been created concerning them and to show that they could 
live in India as her honourable citizens without any deceit and 
dissimulation. 

One consequence of partition is that the League cannot 
continue as a political organization. The Hindu Mahasabha, the 
Sikh Sabha and the Parsee Sabha similarly cannot continue as 
political bodies. They may well stay as religious bodies. Their 
task then will be internal reform of society, to search for things of 
religious value and to act on them. Then the atmosphere will 
become free of poison and these organizations will rival each other 
in doing good. They will have amity for each other and they will 
help the Government. Their political ambitions can be realized 
through the Congress alone whether they are in the Congress or 
not. If the Congress thinks only of those who are in the Congress 
it will become very narrow in its sphere of service. Even today 
there are very few people in the Congress. If no other organiza- 
tion can rival the Congress it is because the Congress has been 
trying to represent the whole of India, because it has dedicated 
itself to the service of the poorest and the lowliest. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 229-32 



243. LETTER TO SHARD A G. CHOKHAWALA 


December 23, 1947 

CHI. BABUDI, 

I have read your postcard. Why need we discuss today 
what may happen after twenty-five days? I understand your 
impatience. If nothing happens in those days, I will agree with 
your view. If you are to die, I should like to see you die with 
your head in my lap. I see no possibility just now of such a 
thing happening. But how can you die before I do? The very 
thought is unbearable to me. You should, therefore, resolve to 
live and make up your mind that, after leaving the sick-bed, 
you will give yourself up to the service of the country. God will, 
then, keep you alive if He needs your services; otherwise He 
will take you away. Where is the cause for worry in this? 

Won’t you do this? 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 10081. Courtesy: Sharda G. Chokha- 
wala 


244. LETTER TO NARAHARI D. PARIKH 

December 23, 1947 

CHI. NARAHARI, 

I was very happy to see your handwriting. I cannot bear 
the thought of your being bed-ridden.^ But now that you are, 
do not be in a hurry to leave the bed. The man who survives 
a crisis will win his heart’s desire, as the saying is. Here you 
should substitute the phrase ‘healthy man’ for “the man who 
survives a crisis”. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 9148 


1 Vide p. 230. 


285 



245. LETTER TO VANAMALA PARIKH 

December 23, 1947 

CHI. VANUDI, 

I got your letter. 

All the symptoms you describe are to be observed in a case 
of stroke. With proper care and the right diet, the patient does 
recover. I believe that massage done by a masseur cannot 
benefit as much as massage done by you can, that is, massage 
done with the love and strength you possess. You do have 
strength, don’t you? Such massage does not require much 
physical strength. It requires only some skill. Haven’t you had 
experience of Dinshaw’s method of massaging? 

For motions, you may convey my view to the doctor that 
there will be no harm in administering a full enema when the 
bowels begin to move. I hope Mani is cheerful. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 5799. Also C. W. 3022. Courtesy: 
Vanamala Desai 


246. LETTER TO AMRITLAL T. NANAVATI 


December 23, 1947 

CHI. AMRITLAL^, 

Why need you worry whether or not I give my blessings? 
Have I the experience which you have? Even if I disapprove, 
you should do what you believe to be a good thing, and even 
with my approval you should never do what you believe to be 
wrong. This is what I feel. The question of my blessings, there- 
fore, does not arise. You may unhesitatingly do what seems right 
to you. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 


From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 10817 
' Secretary, Hindustani Prachar Sabha, Wardha 


286 



247. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


December 23, 1947 

I am stuck here for now. I have no doubt that the needful 
should be done about the village industries. It is our misfortune, 
however, that I see no concerted effort in any undertaking. Of 
course one cannot complain if there is no unity; but what can be 
more painful than that such disunity should engender personal 
animosities? I am at the moment passing through a situation 
which cannot even be dreamt of. All the same I do not worry. 
My only prayer to God in the present situation is “one step is 
enough for me”. God will keep me as long as He needs me. 
Why need I worry about it? Well, Suhrawardy is sitting opposite 
me, so only this much for today. 

Blessings to Chi. .. .hShe will be well. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 160 


248. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 23, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

A friend suggests that since it is getting cold we should 
begin our prayer half an hour earlier, that is, at 5 p. m. I admit 
it is getting to be pretty cold. Though the days will be getting 
longer minute by minute from now on, for today it is already 
the 23rd of December, still if all of you so wish we can begin 
the prayer at 5 p. m. from tomorrow.^ Today I shall deal with 
three points. 


* Omission as in the source 

^ Gandhiji asked those who wanted the prayers to be held earlier to 
raise their hands. A large number of them raised their hands. It was, there- 
fore, decided to hold the prayers at 5 p. m. 


287 



288 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Here is the first. You saw that yesterday people* arrived 
here from Bahawalpur. They are in great distress.^ They say 
that all the Hindus and Sikhs there should be brought here for 
their lives are in danger. Today two friends from Bahawalpur 
came to see me. They said that if no steps were taken in this 
respect they would go and fast in front of the Governor-General’s 
house. I told them that their fasting could neither bring here the 
Hindus and Sikhs left behind nor ensure their safety. That besides 
the Governor-General had no power except such as he derived 
from his Gabinet. He merely affixed his signature. If they thought 
that fasting before the residence of Pandit Nehru or the Sardar 
would do any good they were equally mistaken. They saw the 
point and gave up the idea of fasting. Yesterday I was observing 
silence and so could not say anything. The Nawab of Bahawalpur 
should permit all the Hindus and Sikhs to go wherever they 
want to. If he does not he will be failing in his duty. I can- 
not relate to you the things that have happened there under 
the very nose of the Nawab. A large number of Hindus and 
Sikhs were tortured and killed. It is the Sikhs who built Bahawal- 
pur. They are a brave people. They can fight and cultivate 
land. They have been cultivating the land there; so have the 
Hindus. They have committed no crime. Their only crime is 
that they are Hindus or Sikhs. A large number of these innocent 
people were murdered and some ran away. When Hindus and 
Sikhs cannot live there in peace, what is the worth of anything 
that the Nawab may say? I appeal to the Nawab that he should 
do his duty. If Hindus and Sikhs cannot live there in honour 
he should arrange for them to leave or he should declare that 
none of the Hindus and Sikhs still in Bahawalpur will be touched 
and that they can continue to live in Bahawalpur in peace. If 
they are starving, food should be made available to them. 

According to a report in today’s Statesman about the refugee 
camps in Lahore, the Muslims in the camps are living in in- 
sanitary conditions. Epidemics like cholera and smallpox have 
broken out and even those who have escaped them are dying of 
cold and exposure. How can people live under the open sky in 

* Who carried placards reading “Save the 70,000 Hindus and Sikhs of 
Bahawalpur’’ 

^ In the State of Bahawalpur, which had acceded to Pakistan on Novem- 
ber 8, seventy thousand Hindus and Sikhs were awaiting evacuation. It was 
reported that the Pakistan authorities were not agreeing to their evacuation 
through the Military Evacuation Organization. The Hindus and Sikhs con- 
centrated in camps were without adequate food or clothing. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


289 


this cold? They need shelter and clothes and food. If these 
three things are not available they must face death. I do not know 
all that is happening there. Yes, scavengers have been brought 
over from Sialkot who will clean the camps and remove night- 
soil. The officials say that they are not doing enough work. It 
is clear that the people there are in distress. What does it mat- 
ter that they are in Pakistan? Why should human beings be so 
degraded? It pains me. Those people who ran away from here 
to escape our excesses were deprived of their hearths and homes. 
They are not familiar with the surroundings there and they 
have to suffer hardships. But why can’t they keep themselves 
clean? I should advise all the refugees, be they in India or in 
Pakistan, that they should not be dependent on others for every- 
thing. They should not ask for help to cook for them or to 
remove their night-soil. People who were being uprooted from 
their homes are in no position to make such demands. It’s a 
privilege of the rich. They may employ ten when one is enough, 
but not we. These are the symptoms of our degradation. The 
refugees in the camps in Lahore should firmly and courageously 
declare that they will not have scavengers from Sialkot, that 
they will themselves do the cleaning of their camps. The Pakis- 
tan Government and the officials concerned should also make 
it clear to the refugees that they will not have scavengers 
brought from Sialkot. They should at least do what every hu- 
man being can do. And if even then there are deaths, that will 
be a different matter. I have said it before, and I say it again, 
that the refugees should conduct themselves with decency. They 
should do all that they can do and not become a burden on 
others. 

And here is something good that I want to tell you. I 
told you once that Pyarelal had come here. You know who 
Pyarelal is. He is my Secretary. He had been working in Noa- 
khali for a long time. There were others with him too. At the 
risk of their lives they gave support and courage to the Hin- 
dus who felt insecure there. The Muslims too very soon under- 
stood that they were their friends and servants and had gone 
there not to promote violence but to promote amity between 
the two communities. 

Pyarelal has some interesting news from Noakhali: A tem- 
ple had been demolished and occupied by Muslims. It became 
a cause of strife. Later when the Muslims expressed their desire 
to live in amity with the Hindus, Pyarelal pointed out that 
the Hindus no longer had the temple where they could go and 


90-19 



290 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


worship. The Muslims thereupon rebuilt the temple with 
their own labour and assured the Hindus that they were free 
to go to the temple and offer worship. Now they are all happy. 
The officials too co-operated. If everyone in India and Pakistan 
acted in this spirit the faces of the two countries would change. 
If we stick to our own religion and refrain from interfering with 
another’s, it will be a great thing. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 236-8 


249. LETTER TO ANAND T. HINGORANI 

New Delhi, 

December 24, 1947 

CHI. ANAND, 

I have your letter. I write this while drinking my hot water. 
It is 5 a. m. 

You seem to be much troubled by your ear. If that is so, 
go to America and see what can be done about it. If you can 
appreciate the blessing of not hearing, then there is no need to 
go anywhere. What you need to know you can know with 
Gangi’s* assistance. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From a microfilm of the Hindi. Courtesy: National Archives of India and 
Anand T. Hingorani 


Addressee’s wife 



250. LETTER TO GANGI A. HIMGORANI 

New Delhi, 

December 24, 1947 

CHI. GANGI, 

I have your letter. I am writing this with great difficulty, 
otherwise I would have to let your letter go unanswered. 

There are no facilities for your staying with me in Delhi. 
I am myself staying at the house of a rich man. It is diffi- 
cult to keep anyone with me here. If I set up an ashram 
anywhere and stay there you can come. But such an opportu- 
nity is impossible in this life. Consider also that it is not your 
duty to leave Anand and go elsewhere. I feel that as long as 
Anand finds his deafness an affliction, you cannot leave him. 
Also Anand cannot move about by himself. What can you learn 
by staying with me? I consider it wrong for people to ima- 
gine that they gain anything by staying with me. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a microfilm of the Hindi. Courtesy: National Archives of India 
and Anand T. Hingorani 


251. LETTER TO DILKHUSH DIWANJI 

New Delhi, 

December 24, 1947 


CHI. DIWANJI, 

I got your letter in reply to my question. I am glad. 
Although the sizing is done with good speed it must stiff be 
taking up a lot of time. I understand doubling takes much 
less time and greatly facilitates the process of weaving. Please 
think over this. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


291 



252. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

New Delhi, 

December 24, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I often receive Sikh visitors. I also read newspapers some- 
times. They say that I have proved an enemy of the Sikhs. 
They would not have minded it much but for the fact that 
my word seemed to carry weight with the world outside India 
where it is believed that India has secured its freedom through 
non-violent means. This had never happened before anywhere 
in the world. But a tree is known by its fruit, and by no other 
means. For man is not God, man can know a thing from its 
results. The fruit of independence has been that today Hindus, 
Muslims and Sikhs have become one another’s enemies. 

As I have admitted earlier I had been under the delusion 
that our struggle was truly non-violent. God had rendered me 
blind and I was misled. Because the lame, the crippled, the 
coward cannot be non-violent. Lame, crippled and dumb I do 
not mean literally, for God helps these and they are always 
non-violent. Even a child can stand before the world on the 
strength of non-violence. Prahlad was an instance. We do not 
know whether Prahlad was a historical character. To me he was 
more than a historical character, for I believe in the story. 
Prahlad’s father* commanded him not to utter the name of God. 
But Prahlad insisted that he would continue to utter the name 
of God. The image of 12-year-old Prahlad remains before my 
eyes. Therefore I say that those who are lame and crippled at 
heart can never be truly non-violent. So long as the light does 
not shine in the heart no one can understand the beauty of 
non-violence. What we offered during the struggle was passive 
resistance which simply meant that we would not kill the Bri- 
tish though in our hearts we wanted to kill them. But we had 
not the power. When the millions took up passive resistance it 
did bring about our freedom. The freedom we have obtained 
is crippled freedom. It is only partial. I therefore laugh when 
I see our Sikh brethren getting angry. In my eyes there is no 

* Hiranyakashipu, the Demon-king 


292 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


293 


difference between the Hindus and the Sikhs. I have read the 
Grantksakeb. A friend chides me for not knowing anything 
about the Granthsaheb. He says I cannot understand the Sikhs 
and that if I did, I would not have written what I wrote about 
Guru Govind Singh. That was many years ago and the mis- 
take was not mine. But he still says so because he is a friend. 
If I say that the Sikhs are taking to drinking and gambling it 
does not mean that it applies to all or only to Sikhs. Hindus 
too are a prey to these evils but Hindus do not have the 
strength that the Sikhs have. The Sikhs should not use that 
strength indiscriminately. They may wield the sword but only 
where they must. Their sword should not fall where it ought 
not to fall. I am a true friend of the Sikhs when I say that 
anyone who commits crimes or is guilty of bad conduct sins 
before God. He degrades his religion. 

Today is the 24th. Tomorrow is Christmas. Christmas is to 
Christians what Diwali is to us. Really neither Diwali nor Christmas 
is an occasion when we should indulge in revelry and lose our 
heads. I do not regard Christmas as an occasion for people to 
indulge in drunkenness. Christmas reminds one of Jesus Christ. 
I offer greetings to the Christians in India and abroad. May 
the New Year bring them prosperity and happiness. It has never 
been my wish that the freedom of India should mean the ruin 
of the Christians here or that they should become Hindus or 
Muslims or Sikhs. For a Christian to become a Hindu or a 
Muslim is a fate worse than death. According to my view a 
Christian should become a better Christian, a Muslim a better 
Muslim and a Sikh a better Sikh. I want that all the Christians 
in and outside India should become free in the true sense. 
Let them exercise self-restraint and pursue the path of sacrifice 
and martyrdom shown by Jesus Christ. Let them be free and 
increase the area of freedom in the world. I see from the papers 
that the Government proposes to stop the grants made to them. 
The money they receive from America and England will also stop 
coming. It is feared that 75% of the churches in India will 
have to be closed down. But a religion does not prosper with 
the help of money. Most Christians in India are poor people. 
What does it matter if the Government help should stop? They 
should be glad that they will now be free of the curse of pecu- 
niary assistance. Once a lot of money and presents came into 
the house of Hazarat Omar. This worried Omar and he told 
his wife that with all that wealth he was no longer certain if 
he would be able to retain his self-control and would not take 



294 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

to pleasure. A church does not need a building. The human 
body is the real church. It is there that God dwells. Then 
we have the sky for the roof and the earth for the floor. We 
can utter God’s name anywhere. I shall therefore say that the 
Ghristians need not feel worried. They do not really need assist- 
ance from the Government or anyone. They should follow the 
teachings of their religion. If they but persevere in the path of 
sacrifice shown by Christ, no one can take their religion away 
from them. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 236-8 


253. LETTER TO HAMID-UD-DIN 


New Delhi, 

December 25, 1947 

BHAI HAMID-UD-DIN, 

I got your letter about Barwani. I have been doing what 
I can ever since the first telegram came. The local Muslims 
have some staunch Hindus for their friends. I am also in cor- 
respondence with them. They are working hard. Isn’t there 
exaggeration in what you write? It happened in the case of 
Junagadh. My informants were well-placed Muslims. They had 
exaggerated matters to such an extent that at last they had 
to publicly issue a correction and apologize. I am not bothered 
about it but at present such exaggeration gives rise to dislike 
of all Muslims. And this hurts me very much. I am therefore 
sounding a note of caution to you. After all the Government 
officers have also taken some steps. 

Please let me have whatever authoritative information you 
have. 


From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 



254. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


December 25, 1947 

No one can harm a person who is sustained by Ramanama. 
I believe in this principle and so I have no physical illness. 
It is by the grace of God that I am able to remain calm even 
though there is conflagration all around. Had it not been for this 
I would have broken down by now. That is why I proclaim 
at the top of my voice that I dance as Rama wills. We are 
in this world to do our duty. I believe that not a leaf moves 
without His command. And look at the pride of man; he believes 
he does everything. But God is magnanimous and only laughs 
at this abysmal ignorance. Now you will all understand where 
I am. You must all be well. What I write in Harijan shows 
me as I am. I am very clear about the language. In the same 
way I am clear about the political questions. Let us see what 
God wills me to do. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 165-6 


255. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

December 25, 1947 

Slackness in khadi work will not do. We should understand 
that the more we slacken the more we shall fall behind. This 
fragile thread has had behind it sixty long years of work. It still 
remains unbroken and thanks to it we have reached our present 
position. Even now I am convinced that if only we had plied 
the wheel more vigourously, the thread would not have broken 
even as slightly as it has. If we do not want to preserve what 
we have gained, then certainly we may let the thread snap. 
Fragile as this thread is, it has the strength to bind not only 
India but the whole world. My purpose in labouring the point 
is simply this; If India is to live and live well there is no alter- 
native to the constructive programme. Otherwise your fall will 
be quick, remember this. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 165-6 


295 



256. LETTER TO KRISHNADAS 


New Delhi, 

December 25, 1947 


CHI. KRISHNADAS, 

I have your letter of December 20. Khadi Pratishthan certainly 
becomes uncertified. To ask for money immediately does not 
seem to be proper. I do not consider it right now to insert a 
condition which is not there in the written agreement. I do 
not remember now if I had said anything. If I did, surely my 
signature would be there. 

I find a great difference between dealers in uncertified 
khadi and Khadi Pratishthan. Khadi Pratishthan was born for 
khadi and will die for it. Other dealers carry on their business 
for the sake of business. They also practise dishonesty. Even so 
I shall send your letter on to Khadi Pratishthan and ask them.^ 

Are those who deal with the Hindustani correspondence there 
fully familiar with Hindustani? In your letter fsiiTqsV are two 
words but I have seen the expression used only as one word. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 2739 


257. LETTER TO HEMPRABHA DAS GUPTA 

New Delhi, 

December 25, 1947 

CHI. HEMPRABHA^, 

Herewith Krishnadas’s letter. Please let me know about 
the matter. I feel that as the rules of the Sangh'* stand Khadi 
Pratishthan is an uncertified body. I enclose a copy of the 
letter I have written to Krishnadas. I hope Babua is well and 

* Vide the following item. 

2 Written agreement, correspondence 
^ Wife of Satis Chandra Das Gupta 
^ All India Spinners’ Association 


296 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 297 

Didimoni too. Arun’ should become perfectly fit. If he believes 
in nature cure, he may consult Kulranjan. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 2740 


258. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 
December 25, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

You all know something of what is happening in Kashmir. 
But I want to draw your attention to a proposal about Kashmir. 
It is being said and also reported in the newspapers that we 
should invite someone to arbitrate between the Indian Union 
and Pakistan in the dispute over Kashmir. How can this be? 
How long can this kind of thing go on? Instead of resulting in 
a settlement of the dispute, this will merely introduce into it 
a third party. Can we not settle the issue between ourselves? 
There is a large preponderance of Muslims in Kashmir. Maybe 
they are more than 95% . Jammu does not have very many 
Muslims. I do not know what is the percentage of Muslims in 
the population but Jammu and Kashmir is one State. It cannot 
be partitioned. If we start the process of partitioning, where 
is it going to end? It is enough and more than enough that 
India has been partitioned into two. If we partition Kashmir, 
why not other States? 

What is the nature of the dispute in Kashmir? It is said 
that the raiders are outsiders. They are aggressors and plunder- 
ers. But as time passes it looks as if it was not so. I get some 
Urdu newspapers. I can read Urdu a little myself and others 
also read them out to me. Today some bits from the ^amindar 
were read out to me. I know the editor^ of the Zemindar. He 
has an unbridled tongue. He has issued an open invitation to all 
Muslims to muster for an assault on Kashmir. He has heaped 
abuse on the Dogras and the Sikhs. He calls the raid in Kashmir 
a jihad^. But there is always restraint about a jihad. There is 
nothing of the kind here. Do they want that Hindus, Sikhs and 
Muslims should perpetually remain divided? What is our duty if 

^ Addressee’s son 

^ Maulana Zafar Ali Khan 

^ Crusade or war waged for a holy cause 



298 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Muslims Start cutting up the Hindus and Sikhs? As I have been 
telling you every day Hindus and Sikhs must not retaliate. 

The simple fact is that Pakistan has invaded Kashmir. 
Units of the Indian army have gone to Kashmir but not to in- 
vade Kashmir. They have been sent on the express invitation 
of the Maharaja and Sheikh Abdullah. Sheikh Abdullah is the 
real Maharaja of Kashmir. Muslims in their thousands are de- 
voted to him. He is called the Lion of Kashmir. 

One should always admit one’s mistakes. The Hindus and 
Sikhs of Jammu or those who had gone there from outside killed 
Muslims there. The Maharaja of Kashmir is responsible for the 
happenings in his State. It was not Sheikh Abdullah who was 
behind these murders. He in fact went to Jammu and tried to 
reason with the Hindus and Sikhs. He tried to save the lives of 
Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. The Maharaja of Kashmir is a Dogra 
Rajput. Abuses have been heaped on him. If he has been at fault 
he can be removed. One can understand that. But what have the 
Muslims of Kashmir done? Why is jihad being carried on against 
them? 

I want to say to the Government of Pakistan in all humility 
that if their claim to being the greatest Islamic power in the 
world is true, they should make sure that every Hindu and every 
Sikh in Pakistan is justly treated. They should be protected. But 
Pakistan presents a different picture. I shall advise Pakistan and 
India to sit together and decide the matter. If the two are in- 
terested in the settlement of the dispute, where is the need for 
an arbitrator? The Maharaja can step aside and let India and 
Pakistan deliberate over the matter. Sheikh Abdullah will of course 
be there. If they want an arbitrator they can appoint one from 
among themselves, but it should certainly not be a third power. 
They may, if they so desire, persuade the Maharaja to step down. 
After all he is a human being. A large number of Muslims have 
been killed there and Muslim women have been dishonoured. I 
met the Maharaja and his Prime Minister. And I told him what 
I had to say. The Maharaja should clearly say that he is no longer 
the Ruler, it is the Muslims of Kashmir who are the real rulers 
and they may do what they like. After the Maharaja and his 
Prime Minister withdraw themselves only Sheikh Abdullah remains. 
He can form an interim government and restore law and order. 
The armies can be withdrawn. If the two countries arrive at a 
settlement on these lines it will be good for both. It is not that 
India had invaded a Muslim State or had gone there to help 
the Maharaja. Our Government is for the people and it is in 



LETTER TO G. V. MAVALANKAR 


299 


the interest of the people that we enter into negotiations with the 
Princes. The Congress Government can take no other course. 

I saw a couplet in an Urdu magazine today. It hurt me. I 
do not remember the words but the substance is this: “Today 
Somnath is on the tongue of everyone. If the temple is renovated 
it will have to be avenged. A new Ghaznavi must come from 
Ghazni to avenge what happened in Junagadh.” It is painful to 
think that such a thing can issue from the pen of a Muslim. I 
have said that I must do or die; which means that I shall either 
bring about Hindu-Muslim amity or lay down my life. This sort 
of thing cannot affect my resolve. I cannot return evil for evil. 
I can only return good for evil. I tell you all this so that you 
may not be taken in by such things. You must not remember the 
wrong that Ghaznavi did. Muslims should realize and admit the 
wrongs perpetrated under the Islamic rule. The Hindu and Sikh 
rulers of Kashmir and Patiala, etc., should also admit the excesses 
committed in their States. There is nothing to be ashamed of 
in confessing one’s sins, it only lightens one’s guilt. If Muslims 
in the Indian Union teach their children that a Ghaznavi must 
come to avenge them and destroy the Hindus, who is going to 
tolerate this? If this mischievous couplet had not been published 
in an important magazine I would not even have mentioned it.^ 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 239-41 


259. LETTER TO G. V. MAVALANKAR 

December 26, 1947 

I have had your letter and the report of our conversation^ 
read out to me just now (at a quarter to five in the morning). 
You have taken great pains over the report. I think the subject 
did not deserve so much labour. You have, of course, summarized 

* The couplet appeared under the title “Mahmud Ghaznavi” in Aligarh 
Urdu Magazine published from the Aligarh University. When the attention of 
Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan, the Vice-Chancellor, was drawn to it, he 
sent a letter expressing regret for the oversight. 

^ The addressee’s endeavour to establish a regional university in Guja- 
rat had become a controversial subject. Gandhiji’s article “Navin Vidya- 
pitho”, which could admit of the interpretation that he was opposed to the 
proposed university in Gujarat, was being quoted against it. The addressee, 
therefore, had a frank talk on the subject with Gandhiji on December 1 1 . 

For Gandhiji’s article, vide Vol. LXXXIX, pp. 402-5. 



300 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


my views quite well.’ I don’t feel at all like adding to or 
removing anything from the summary. 

I learnt one new fact from you, namely, that Gujarat is 
the only linguistic region now left without a regional univer- 
sity. I must admit that this fact weakens my case. Even so, 
I do wish that this last regional university to be established 
would help in the progress of Indian civilization, which means 
the civilization of the country’s villages. You may, if you wish, 
describe this desire as a form of greed or ignorant attachment 
on my part. 

I still believe that, if the people loved the country as a 
whole rather than their respective regions, we should be able to 
bring about the establishment of linguistic provinces in a few 
months. You and I should, therefore, prove that your fear^ will 
prove groundless and that my dream will be realized. We should 
exert ourselves to the utmost to that end. My regret is that 
I am not in a position just now to join in such an effort. I 
will, therefore, rest content with writing an occasional article 
in Harijan on the subject or addressing such a letter to you. 

I hope you are keeping good health. 

[From Gujarati] 

Sansmarano, pp. 205-6 


260. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 
December 26, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I am happy and also sorry to announce that we shall not 
be having our prayer here tomorrow. Instead I shall be going 
to Sambhal, where a village panchayat has been formed. It is 
thought that because of my visit a large number of people will 
gather there. We shall have the prayer there. I have never 
been to that village before. They say the distance is about 11 
miles, maybe a mile less or more. We shall of course have our 
prayer the day after tomorrow. 

’ While Gandhiji accepted the principle of universities being based on 
regional languages, he maintained that the linguistic redistribution of prov- 
inces should first be accomplished. 

^ Namely, that the linguistic redistribution of provinces might take years 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


301 


Today I wish to tell you about the Tibbia College. Both 
Hindu and Muslim students joined it for studying Ayurveda 
which was taught there. Later, courses in Yunani, allopathy and 
homoeopathy were added. Hakim Ajmalkhan was the founder 
of the college. He was a popular leader of Delhi. Today we 
have made ourselves enemies of Muslims. It was not so when 
we thought of starting this college where everyone irrespective of 
communal considerations could study medicine. All contributed 
freely. Among the donors were Hindu Rajas and Muslim Naw- 
abs. The late Dr. Ansari worked hard to make the scheme a suc- 
cess. It was under the management of a Trust which had on its 
board Hindus and Muslims. Today some Hindu friends came 
to me and asked what would happen to the college now. They 
said it was difficult to continue it under the present circumstances. 
Funds had ceased to come. It would be a matter of grief and 
shame if such a large institution had to close down. I am trying 
my best to avoid this calamity. The college is situated in Karol 
Bagh. But Muslim boys fear to go anywhere near it. We have 
driven out Muslims from Panipat. It is still a moot question 
where they will be able to live. It is a matter of shame for us. 
It seems that we are doing our best to ruin ourselves. For, 
when we try to ruin others we ruin ourselves. This is the 
rule of life. 

Another matter I wish to speak about is that of abducted 
girls. I spoke on the matter once.^ But I must speak again and 
again, for only then will the people understand. It is not a 
question of a mere ten or twenty girls. The number could be 
in hundreds or even thousands. Nobody knows. Where are all 
those girls? Muslims have abducted Hindu and Sikh girls. We 
want to recover them. In Lahore some Hindu, Muslim and Sikh 
women met and decided to have these abducted girls recovered 
and restored to their homes. They decided that Muslim girls 
carried away by Hindus and Sikhs should also be returned. I 
have received a long list of girls abducted from Patiala. Some of 
them come from very well-to-do Muslim families. When they are 
recovered it will not be difficult for them to be returned to their 
parents. As regards Hindu girls it is still doubtful whether they 
will be accepted by their families. This is very bad. If a girl 
has lost her parents or husband it is not her fault. And yet 
Hindu society does not look upon such a girl with respect any 
more. The mistake is ours, not the girl’s. Even if the girl has 


^Vide pp. 191-4. 



302 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

been forced into marriage by a Muslim, even if she has been 
violated, I would still take her back with respect. I do not 
want that a single Hindu or Sikh should take up the attitude 
that if a girl has been abducted by a Muslim she is no longer 
acceptable to society. We should not hate her. We should sym- 
pathize with her and take pity on her. If a girl is a Sikh, in 
my eyes she remains a Sikh, if a Hindu, she remains a Hindu. 
If my daughter has been violated by a rascal and made preg- 
nant, must I cast her and her child away? Nor can I take 
the position that the child so born is Muslim by faith. Its 
faith can only be the faith of the mother who bore it. After the 
child grows up he or she will be free to take up any religion. 
Today we are in such an unfortunate situation that some girls 
say that they do not want to come back, for they know that 
if they return they will only face disgrace and humiliation. The 
parents will tell them to go away, so will the husbands. I have 
suggested that a sort of home should be established for such 
girls which should take up the responsibility for their food and 
shelter and education, so that they can stand on their own feet. 
These girls are innocent. The culprits are those — be they Hin- 
dus or Muslims or Sikhs — who have abducted them. Let the 
Hindus and Sikhs who have abducted Muslim girls return them. 
Let the Muslims who have abducted Hindu and Sikh girls re- 
turn them. And let them confess publicly that they are guilty. 
The list I have received makes me tremble. What has happened 
in Kashmir? A large number of Muslims have been slaughtered. 
Women have been slaughtered and young girls have been ab- 
ducted. If my voice can reach those guilty of this outrage, I 
shall ask them to return all those girls. I am told that several 
hundred Hindu and Sikh girls had similarly been carried away. 
I am also told that a certain pir^ is holding in his house a large 
number of Hindu and Sikh girls. Those who have abducted 
them are reported to have said that they do not mean to harm 
or dishonour these girls in any way but that they will not return 
them so long as the abducted Muslim girls are not returned. 
This will be a wicked bargain. We should not act in such a 
way. We should behave like decent men. We must return all 
the abducted girls without any preconditions. If we want to 
retain our freedom we must learn decency of conduct. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 241-3 


' A Muslim saint 



261. LETTER TO RATHIMDRA MATH TAGORE 


New Delhi, 

December 27, 1947 

DEAR RATHINDRA*, 

Just after the morning prayer I see your letter. 

I am glad about the notation of Vandemataraml and Jana- 
gana?. I suppose you know that though I talk about notations, 
my ignorance of the language of notation is deplorable. An igno- 
rant man, if he is truthful, can derive joy by proxy. 

Of course, wherever I am, Santiniketan is always in my 
heart. 

Yours, 

Bapu 

From a photostat: G. N. 2293 


262. LETTER TO B. G. KHER 

December 27, 1947 

BHAI KHER'', 

The bearer of this note, Sevakram^, a silent worker of Sind, 
possesses qualities worthy of his name. He serves the Harijans. 
We have to accommodate all the Harijans from Sind in the 
Bombay Presidency. Please do so as far as possible. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Gourtesy: Pyarelal 


' Son of Rabindranath Tagore 

^ Vandemataram, a song from Bankimchandra Chatterjee’s novel Anand 
Math, one of the most popular patriotic songs during the freedom struggle 

^ Jana-gana-mana, a song by Rabindranath Tagore, which was adopted 
as the national anthem of India 

■'(1888-1957); Ghief Minister, Bombay, 1937-39 and 1946-52; Member, 
Gonstituent Assembly; India’s High Commissioner in Britain, 1952-54; 
Chairman, Official Language Commission, 1955; Chairman, Gandhi Smarak 
Nidhi, 1956-57 

^ Literally, ‘Rama in the form of a servant’. The worker later became 
Chairman of the Servants of the People Society. 


303 



263. LETTER TO MANIBEHN PATEL 

New Delhi, 
December [27],’ 1947 

CHI. MANI, 

Sevakram who will bring this note is a dedicated servant 
of Harijans. All Harijans in Sind should be brought to India 
and rehabilitated in the Bombay State, Saurashtra, Kutch, 
Gujarat, Udaipur, Jodhpur and other places. The Sardar should 
do all he can in the matter. 

Shri Manibehn Patel 
C/o Sardar Patel 
New Delhi 

[From Gujarati] 

Bapuna Patro—4: Manibehn Patelne, p. 145 


264. LETTER TO KHAMDUBHAI DESAI 

December 27, 1947 

bhai khandubhai. 

The bearer of this note, Sevakram, will recount to you the 
story of the Harijans of Sind. Try to accommodate as many of 
them as you can in the mills. I believe that Sevakram is a 
first-class worker. You may make whatever use you wish of 
this note. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


’ In Pyarelal Papers the letter is found among those of this date. The 
book, however, has “29”. Vide also the preceding and the following items. 

304 



265. LETTER TO SURYAKANT 


New Delhi, 

December 27, 1947 


CHI. SURYAKANT, 

I have your letter. I can never ask you to give up truth; 
never give up obedience to your parents. Go on serving people. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


266. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


Sambhal, 

December 27, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

It gives me special pleasure to hold a prayer meeting in 
this village. You should not thank me or give me an address 
of welcome or garland me. Prayer is our dharma. We pray 
when we get up in the morning. We should pray regularly 
morning and evening. In the evening at 5, or earlier in win- 
ter, we can have congregational prayer. We must utter God’s 
name when we stand or sleep or eat. We must also remem- 
ber God when at work. We should not give ourselves to selfish 
pursuits. We must pursue the path of service. I have too little 
time now to explain to you the whole significance of prayer. 

Though, as I have told you, I want no addresses of wel- 
come and garlands, still since you have given me these I thank 
you for the honour. You speak in your address of the great- 
ness of truth and non-violence. But if our conduct is not in 
conformity with truth and non-violence, talking of them is 
hypocritical. I do not like this. Ever since I came to India 
from South Africa I had been travelling all over the country. I 
have traversed India many times and seen thousands of vil- 
lages. People talk of truth and non-violence but they do not act 
accordingly. They think in one way, speak in another and act 
in yet another way. It is a matter of shame for us that in 


90-20 


305 



306 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

India Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs should be slaughtering one 
another. Mercifully there have been no riots here in and around 
your village because the number of Muslims here is small and 
they can do no harm. If we want to behave as enemies of one 
another, let us at any rate stop talking of ahimsa. Let us be 
truthful to this extent. We have not become free in order to 
slaughter one another. Freedom means that we should volun- 
tarily do what is good. We have become free to do good, not 
to do evil. We never pray to God to let us utter falsehoods. If 
we do that it would be surrender to Satan. 

It is a good thing you have formed a panchayat. But if it 
does not function properly and is a panchayat only in name, it 
will do no good. In former times there used to be real pancha- 
yats in the villages of India. Even I have not seen them. But 
travellers from China and Greece have reported about them. 
These travellers were not paid by anyone. They were not even 
invited. They came on their own undergoing great hardships. 
They came in order to gain knowledge. They write that there 
were at the time no thefts anywhere in India; there were no 
locks on the doors. All this was not what happened thousands of 
years ago. Our history does not go back to thousands of years. 

Formerly there were four varnas^. Today these have grown 
into a large number. It becomes meaningless to call them varnas. 
It is a great responsibility you have assumed in forming a 
panchayat. The cows yield so little milk that many people say 
that they should be slaughtered. Muslims no doubt slaughter 
cows. But no one in the world slaughters as many cows as the 
Hindus do. Hindus do not treat the cows well. They do not 
know how to look after them. This amounts to slowly killing 
the cows. It is much better to kill them all at once. We wor- 
ship cows and yet treat them most cruelly. I shall say your 
panchayat has done something if at the end of the year the 
cows that today give three seers of milk give six. 

Similarly you should produce twice the present amount of 
foodgrain. You can do so by giving to the land the nourish- 
ment that it needs. Mirabehn had called a conference which 
was attended by a large number of people. They came to the 
conclusion that all the cow-dung, human faeces and vegetable- 
waste available in villages could be turned into rich manure. 
It requires not expenditure but a little labour and it increases 
the fertility of the soil. 


’ Viz., Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra 



MESSAGE TO INDONESIA 


307 


I do not know how clean you keep your village. But it 
is your paramount duty to make yourselves strong. You must 
keep yourselves clean externally and internally. Your village 
should be free of dirt and dung in every way. And it should be 
free from foul smells. You should follow the rules of sanitation. 

Why do you need a cinema here? Instead of this, you can 
perform the various plays and stage dramas known to us. 
The cinema will only make you spend money. Then you will 
also learn to gamble and fall into other evil habits. Those ad- 
dicted to alcohol, ganja^ and bhang^ should give up these addic- 
tions. Then I shall feel that your Panchayat has done some 
good work. Then people will come from Delhi to see your vil- 
lage. You must forget untouchability. If you will realize that 
Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Parsis are all brothers you will show 
what free India means. May God give you the strength to ac- 
complish all this. 

Please do not clap your hands. What I have said is a part 
of the prayer. I want your blessings and if you do all that I 
have told you, you will have given me all I need. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II pp. 243-6 


267. MESSAGE TO INDONESIA^ 

[Before December 28, 1947Y 

Success is at your door although the situation does not look 
bright at present. India fought for 30 years without sympathy 
from outside. 

Mahatma Gandhi advised Indonesia to take every opportunity to 
establish closer relations with other Asian peoples. 

He was also reported to have told an Indonesian Women’s League 
delegation attending the All-India Women’s Conference^ in Madras: 

Don’t waver. Victory is in sight. 

The Hindu, 29-12-1947 


* Hemp 

2 Hemp flowers 

This was given to a correspondent of Merdeka, a daily of the Bata- 
via Republic and appeared under the date-line “Batavia, December 28”. 

^ Held on December 29 



268. LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAI 


December 28, 1947 

CHI. VALJI, 

I went through your articles in the early hours of the morn- 
ing. You will be surprised to learn that I did not find even 
one of them worth publishing. The article about villages does 
not apply to our conditions. A few selected paragraphs from it 
may be published. There does not appear to be much in the 
one about the fox and the hare. It seems you have not seen 
Dacca. The stopping of races there will have no effect in Cal- 
cutta. There can be no comparison between Hiroshima and our 
conditions in regard to building new houses. You should go 
deeper into the subjects on which you write. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 7509. Courtesy: Valji G. Desai 


269. LETTER TO SHANTIKUMAR JV. MORARJEE 

New Delhi, 

December 28, 1947 


CHI. SHANTIKUMAR, 

I don’t think it necessary to publish your letter after the 
reply that Kumarappa^ has given. 

I got your letter regarding Mahadev^. It will be published 
in Harijan as suggested by you.^ 

* Reviewing the Government scheme for shipping, J. C. Kumarappa in 
his article, “A Rudderless Shipping Programme”, wrote that the scheme was 
not well-conceived and lacked proper thought and appreciation of organiza- 
tion. He suggested that the question needed to be handled with care, deep 
thought and tact, and that the Government should take into confidence the 
various interests affected by the industry, while drafting a workable scheme. 

^ The Mahadev Desai Memorial Trust. The addressee was one of the 
three Trustees nominated by Gandhiji. 

^ The article entitled “Mahadev Desai (Bombay) Memorial Trust” ap- 
peared in Harijan, 9-5-1948. 

308 



ADDRESS TO CLOTH MERCHANTS 309 

In regard to the two parts about which you have sought 
my opinion, it is “yes”. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: C. W. 4741. Courtesy: Shantikumar N. 
Morarjee 


270. ADDRESS TO CLOTH MERCHANTS^ 


Delhi, 

December 28, 1947 

BROTHERS, 

If you will be quiet you will be able to hear me. I have 
come here only for one thing and that is to say a few words 
about the controls. I feel that the control imposed on foodgrain 
is bad. It cannot do any good to India. Control on cloth 
should also go. When ours is a free country, why should we 
have controls? Jawaharlal, Sardar Patel and others are the 
servants of the people. They cannot do anything against the 
wishes of the people. They cannot hold their offices if we ask 
them to step down. They themselves are not keen to stay on. 
They always say that they want to work for the people and that 
they are the servants of the people. It is also true. We fought 
the British for thirty-two years and in that we have shown how 
true democracy functions. Our strength is not like that of the 
British. They could have summoned armed forces from England. 
We do not have all that. But our Ministers have greater force 
than the armed force. Jawaharlal, Sardar Patel and others have 
the might of public opinion at their back which is greater than 
the might of an army or a police. 

Why was it necessary to impose controls? The controls 
became necessary because of the fear of dishonesty and profi- 
teering on the part of the traders. Why should a trader get 
more for his labour than a labourer gets for his? He should 
not take more. If the traders realize this we shall not have the 
difficulties which we are facing today in the matter of food and 
clothing. If we all refuse to put up with controls, they will 
have to go. If you and I are honest these controls cannot 

* The meeting convened by the Cloth and Yarn Merchants’ Association 
was held at the Hardinge Library in the afternoon. 



310 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


remain. But if we are not honest, removal of controls will kill 
India. The traders’ associations and mill-owners should meet each 
other and remove the suspicion which people have against them 
and thus strengthen each other’s hands. The Gita says: “Cherish 
the gods thus and let the gods cherish you.”^ The gods are not 
to be found up in the sky. Just as our girls are regarded as 
goddesses so are we gods. But it is good that no one calls 
himself a god. That is man’s humility. We should become and 
remain as pure as gods and live happily. Then our poverty, 
starvation and nakedness will disappear. 

As far as cloth especially is concerned people in the vil- 
lages themselves can, indeed must, produce the cloth they require. 
When our womenfolk begin spinning the yarn with their own 
pure hands, crores of rupees will go into the pockets of our 
villagers. We should take up such pure business. I consider 
myself a peasant, a Bhangi and a trader. You should learn from 
me how to carry on an honest trade. I know how to do busi- 
ness. After all I have been a lawyer. Is not legal practice a 
kind of trade? Today when I serve others I am pursuing a 
trade. Trade does not mean earning money anyhow. If you 
want to get the controls removed for the sake of the people and 
not for your own, they will certainly go. You have displayed 
the slogan that the prosperity and freedom of India lie in decon- 
trol. If that is true you have to be very honest and brave in 
your business dealings. 

I have a letter which says that import of foreign cloth is 
on the increase in India. It also says that our cloth is being 
exported. In my opinion both these things are wrong. You will 
next start saying that you will not marry Indian women but 
import women from outside. What kind of trade will that be? 
My mother is my mother. Shall I choose for mother another 
woman more beautiful than she? In the same way you should 
not get beautiful clothes from outside. 

These days businessmen import cloth in order to make 
money. But why should we import foreign cloth and export 
our cloth? We should make do with whatever cloth we produce 
here. We may export whatever remains after our need is fulfilled. 
You may export mill-cloth but only after we have produced the 
required quantity of khadi in the country. Control on cloth 
should go but at the same time control on petrol, firewood and 
other things should also go. 


1 III. 11 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


311 


Here you have a sign saying “Beware of the mill-owners’ 
tricks”. Then you have to beware of the traders’ tricks and my 
tricks also. You will have to cut my throat if I deceive you or 
if I serve my interest in the name of service. If the mill-owners 
or businessmen serve their own interests, then you have to boy- 
cott them. 

[From Hindi] 

Harijan Sevak, 4-1-1948 

271. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 

New Delhi, 
December 28, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Today I was at a meeting of cloth merchants', where they 
told me that cloth too should be decontrolled as so many other 
things had been. I have no doubt that control on cloth should 
be lifted. You will see from the papers what happened at the 
meeting. One thing the traders told me was that, even without 
the control on cloth being lifted, the prices of cloth had begun 
to decline. The reason, they say, is that now my voice is raised 
for decontrol and the Government listens to me, and hence it is 
expected that cloth will soon be decontrolled. This has led to 
the hoarded cloth being brought out into the open market and 
so the prices have registered a decline. The same was the case 
with sugar. People tell me that wherever one goes one sees large 
stocks of sugar. It is being sold at one rupee a seer. I am told 
that people are even able to bargain and buy it for 15 as. or even 
14 as. I am receiving telegrams from all quarters reporting much 
relief among people as a consequence of decontrol. Blessings are 
showered on me for having brought about decontrol. But it is not 
I who should be blessed, but the masses, for it is their voice that 
I have taken up. And that is why my voice was heard, otherwise 
who would listen to me? My own voice counts for nothing. 

I say we should not treat Muslims as enemies. But people 
turn away from me. They say I am mad. I must say that if 
the masses do not listen to me they will be doing harm to their 
dharma. I say nothing improper. Tulsidas says that compassion 
is the essence of religion. You may say that Tulsidas was mad 
but no other book is as popular in the country as his Ramayana. 
It is not only in Bihar or in Delhi where it is popular, it is read 

* Vide the preceding item. 



312 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


everywhere. I only repeated what Tulsidas said. Why then do 
they say that I am mad? 

I don’t understand the control over firewood. It is not 
something you can eat. If it is freely available, will anyone eat 
it or burn it all up? They will burn only as much as is neces- 
sary. Why then should there be control over it? I shall not be 

satisfied till control on firewood is lifted. Today it has become 

so scarce that the poor suffer. 

People ask me to press for decontrol of petrol also. I must 
say that control over petrol should be lifted and the sooner the 
better. We shall only gain thereby. There will be more motor 

vehicles on the roads which will only be for the good of the 

masses. Of course if there were more trains plying there would 
be no need for so much petrol. But laying more railway lines 
involves expenditure running into crores. We must make the best 
use of what we have. We have for the present all the railways 
we need. There are enough roads for going from one place to 
another. Only there is no petrol. What we need today is not 
rail transport but motor transport. I am sure that if petrol is 
decontrolled motor transport will increase. Lifting of controls is 
leading everywhere to lowering of prices. No decontrolled article 
has shown a rise in price. If this had not been so I would not 
be getting all these telegrams. Decontrol of petrol and increase 
in road transport will facilitate the movement of food and cloth 
in the country. Salt too will be more easily available. 

It is the price of salt that needs to be cut down the most. 
The tax on salt has been withdrawn, but the price of salt has 
increased, which is wrong. We have not learnt to make salt. 
We have a vast sea coast and we should have no shortage of 
salt. Even a child can make salt out of sea-water. If I bring 
a little sea-water from the Bay of Bengal, I can easily convert 
it into salt. It is a pity that one has to pay so much for this 
commodity and take so much trouble. The reason is that salt is 
not being easily transported from where it is manufactured. I 
know a mistake has been made in this regard in appointing 
contractors to transport salt. They have become dishonest and are 
making a lot of money. Others cannot transport salt. This contract 
system should be changed and the control over salt should be lifted. 
Two things are important, the change in the contract system 
and the organization of road transport. That will do for today. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 247-9 



272. MATTER WELL PLACED 

Compost is matter well placed, whereas rubbish and excreta, 
solid and liquid, are matter misplaced when they are allowed to 
lie anyhow to the discomfort of the public and detriment to 
their health. It is a criminal waste depriving mother earth of 
her precious food. Thus says Shrimati Mirabehn in her leaflet 
reproduced in full’ in the Harijan, 23-ll-’47, pp. 428-9: 

We do not treat our Mother Earth properly. She does her best 
to feed us all, but we do not feed her in return. How can she sustain 
us, her children, if we do not serve her as dutiful children should serve 
a revered mother? Year after year we plough, sow and reap harvests 
from the fields, but very rarely do we give any manure to the soil, 
and even what we give is usually \i?di-kachcha^ rubbish. Just as we need 
well-cooked food, so does the soil need well-prepared manure. 

The curious may get a copy of the leaflet from her at the 
Kisan Ashram, Rishikesh, near Haridwar.^ 

New Delhi, December 29, 1947 
Harijan, 4-1-1948 

273. “DHAH’’ OE DUST 

I could have given the heading “Dhan from Dust”. But 
I have chosen “Dhan of Dust”. 

The process of sifting the grains from dust means obtaining 
dhan from dust. Similarly the industrious people of China col- 
lect gold dust by washing mud or sand. This too I would call 
dhan from dust. This is a transformation of the dust and much 
more so of the grains. Normally we use the term dhan for food- 
grain. But when we use the word dhan for the grains of gold 
in dust, is it not a great transformation? Here dhan means some 
useful object whose value can be determined. 

But when we say “wealth of dust” it implies a chemical 
transformation of dust. For instance, when we convert the dust, 

’ Under the title “How to Grow More Food” 

^ Imperfect 

^ According to a “Note” in Harijan, 8-2-1948, her correct address was: 
Ashram Pashulok, Rishikesh, Dehradun, U. P. 


313 



314 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


that is, earth into grains, we have converted the dust into wealth. 
When we sow the seeds in the earth and water them properly, 
it produces grain. I would call this creating dhan from dust. Our 
language has not become precise because we have neglected it. 

Let me now come to the main point. I consider “com- 
post” dhan of dust. Compost means the gold-like manure made 
from a proper mixture of such matter as cow-dung, faeces, drop- 
pings of birds and animals, grass, chaff, refuse, urine, etc. If we 
mix such manure with the earth in the field and then sow the 
seeds, it will yield at least double the crop and yet the soil will 
not lose its fertility. 

Mirabehn is working hard in this direction. She has set 
up an ashram at Rishikesh. There she expects to carry on the 
work which she had begun in Delhi. She has started issuing 
small pamphlets on this subject. These pamphlets can be ob- 
tained from her. Her pamphlet is published in Urdu. She 
writes it in English as she does not have sufficient knowledge of 
Hindustani and people working under her render it into Urdu. 

New Delhi, December 29, 1947 

[From Gujarati] 

Harijanbandhu, 4-1-1948 

274. “URDU HARIJAJV" 

Readers know that two editions of Harijan in identical lan- 
guage are brought out every week — one in the Devanagari script 
and the other in the Urdu script. One which is printed in the 
Urdu script is called the Urdu Harijan. Shri Jivanji writes about 
its steadily dwindling circulation.* 

I have always been of the opinion that no newspaper should 
be published at a loss. People should subscribe to the paper 
they want. I do not regard a journal self-supporting which meets 
its expenses out of advertisements. I allowed the Urdu edition 
to continue at a loss so long only because Harijan on the whole 
with all its language editions did not incur any loss. However 
there should be a limit to that also. My views on Hindustani 
and the two scripts remain unchanged. So for some time the 
Urdu edition will come out as usual. In the mean time the 

* The letter is not reproduced here. Jivanji Desai had stated that the 
circulation of the Urdu Harijan had fallen to 250 copies from 1,800 copies 
and that it was running at a loss of Rs. 20,000 per year. 



LETTER TO PYARELAL 


315 


readers of the Gujarati edition and others should decide whe- 
ther they would like to have the Urdu edition. If they want 
it they should help to enrol subscribers till the circulation 
reaches at least two thousand. Along with this they should also 
give thought to another point. It will become my duty to 
close down the Devanagari Harijan^ also if people show an aver- 
sion to the Urdu script and the Urdu edition has to be stopped. 
I do not consider it right to bring out Harijan exclusively in the 
Devanagari. As a reformer it is my duty to bring out the paper 
either in both the scripts or in neither. 

Much has been written on why the language is called 
“Hindustani” and not “Hindi” and why it should be written in 
both the Devanagari and Urdu scripts. I cannot think of any 
new arguments. My intention in writing this is to discuss how 
the Harijan in the Urdu script may be kept going. I feel con- 
fident that my hope will be realized. 

New Delhi, December 29, 1947 

[From Gujarati] 

Harijanbandku, 4-1-1948 

275. LETTER TO PTARELAL^ 

December 29, 1947 

CHI. PYARELAL, 

Please make the attempt. 

Remember this: If you have assimilated my message, as long 
as you are free go on teaching the people to protect themselves. 
If death comes in the course of your mission of non-violence, 
you will embrace it. If they throw you into prison, you may fast 
unto death. Those who have this strength may stay on in Noakhali 
and face death, undeterred by what may befall the women. One 
ought not to run away in fear. Ask me again if you wish. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a facsimile of the Gujarati: Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. 
II, between pp. 496 and 497 

* Harijan Sevak 

^ The addressee had asked what Gandhiji would expect the workers in 
Noakhali to do in the event of a war between the two Dominions and 
whether planned evacuation could be arranged for the women from there. 



276. LETTER TO VALLABHBHAI PATEL 


CHI. VALLABHBHAI, 

. . met me only yesterday, 
were going to Jammu, nor did 
companied you. He also said 
perhaps have made suggestions 
After meeting Randhawa^ 
time if I could write direct to 


SaRDAR VALLABHBHAI PaTEL 
1 Aurangzeb Road 
New Delhi 

[From Gujarati] 


Birla House, 

December 29, 1947 

He said he did not know you 
he know that the Jamsaheb^ ac- 
that if he had known, he would 
or sent a letter. Is this correct? 

I felt that it would save your 
him. Would that be in order? 

Blessings from 

Bapu 


Bapuna Patro—2: Sardar Vallabhbhaine, p. 377 


277. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

December 29, 1947 

. . Religion makes for peace, love and joy in the world. 
But man is an animal and possessing an intellect he goes on com- 
mitting greater and greater sins. Therefore if we look at it in 
the right way science and religion are complementary to each 
other. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 193 


* Omission as in the source 
^ Of Saurashtra 

^ Deputy Commissioner of Delhi 
^ Omission as in the source 


316 



278. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


December 29, 1947 

Medical science too has been much abused. Doctors and 
vaidyas have been exploiting it for fleecing their patients. In 
many instances they have even killed their patients. Through 
advertisements of drugs making false claims, people are made 
to pay at times even with their lives. But only the abuse needs 
to be stopped. From this it does not follow that medical 
science has been intended as a way of cheating and fleecing 
people. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^II, p. 193 

279. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 


New Delhi, 

December 29, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Yesterday was the death anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan. 
Hakim Ajmal Khan belonged to all — Hindus, Muslims, Chris- 
tians, Parsis and Jews. He was a devout Muslim. But he served 
everyone with equal devotion. The finest memorial to his labours 
was the famous Tibbia College and hospital at Delhi. All classes 
of students studied unani, ayurvedic and allopathic systems of 
medicine there. The communal poison, for which there was no 
place in this institution, has forced it to close down. I think 
the sole reason for this is that its founder Hakim Ajmal Khan 
was a Muslim, however good and however respected. If the 
memory of that great patriot cannot bury the communal strife 
let it at least give a new life to this college. 

I mentioned earlier that it would be good to have our 
meetings in the open air under the canopy of the sky. If the 
habit grows we will have to make suitable arrangements for the 

* As Gandhiji was observing silence, his written speech was read out 
after the prayers. 


317 



318 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


site, etc., accordingly. In towns big and small we will have 

to have open space for the purpose. We will have to change 
our habits. We will have to learn to be quiet rather than noisy 
and we will have to learn to sit in an orderly way. We must 
learn also to speak only when we must and at a pitch that is 
sufficient for the occasion, neither too high nor too low. We 
should respect the right of our neighbour and not come in the 
way of others, individually or in groups. We should not inter- 
fere with other people’s business. This will require on many 
occasions extreme self-restraint. In such an order of things the 
dirt and noise we find in the busiest areas of Delhi will no 
longer be there and however large the crowds there will be no 
pushing and jostling and no confusion. We must not think that 
we can never reach that goal. Some group or other will have 
to take the initiative and work for this sincerely. Just think how 
much saving it will mean in energy and expenditure. 

I have been severely reprimanded for what I said concern- 
ing Kashmir and its Maharaja'. It seems to me that those who 
upbraid me have not really read attentively what I said. The 
advice I gave is the kind of advice the humblest man may 
give. Occasionally it becomes one’s duty to offer such advice. If 
the Maharaja had acted on my advice he would have risen 
very high in his own eyes and in the eyes of the world. To- 
day his own plight and the plight of his State are not enviable. 
Kashmir is a Hindu State, the majority of its people being 
Muslims. The raiders called their raids a jihad. They say that the 
Muslims of Kashmir are being ground down under the tyranny 
of Hindu raj and that they have come for their succour. 

The Maharaja has invited Sheikh Abdullah at just the right 
time. The task is new for Sheikh Abdullah. But if the Maharaja 
thinks the Sheikh can shoulder the burden he should be 
encouraged in every way. It seems obvious to me, as it should 
seem obvious to others outside, that if Sheikh Abdullah cannot 
carry with him the minority as well as the majority, Kashmir 
cannot be saved by military might alone. Both the Maharaja 
and the Sheikh asked India for armed assistance. 

My advice to the Maharaja is that he should be a constitu- 
tional sovereign like the King of England and run his government 
and use the Dogra army^ according to the advice of Sheikh 
Abdullah and his Interim Cabinet. What is there so strange 


1 Vide p. 298. 

^ The Jammu and Kashmir State Forces 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


319 


about this? The terms of the State’s accession to the Union remain 
as before. They confer certain rights on the rulers. I have 
ventured to advise the Maharaja that he should voluntarily relin- 
quish or limit these rights and play his constitutional role as a 
Hindu ruler. 

If the reports I get are inaccurate they should be put right. 
If my views regarding Hinduism and the duties of a Hindu ruler 
are erroneous, there is no question of any weight being given to 
my advice. If the Sheikh as the Chief of the Emergency Admin- 
istration or as a true Muslim is found wanting in doing his duty 
he should remove himself from the scene and hand over the reins 
of administration to a better man. Today Hinduism and Islam 
are being tested on the soil of Kashmir. If the right thing is 
done and the right direction given to the process the chief actors 
will win fame. It is my prayer that in the present darkness in 
the country Kashmir may become the star that provides light. 

So much for the Maharaja and Sheikh Saheb. Will not the 
Governments of Pakistan and the Union come together and de- 
cide the issue with the help of impartial Indians? Is there no 
one in India who is impartial? I am sure we have not become 
bankrupt to that extent. 

A lady from Mathura has sent Rs. 50 by M. O. for buying 
blankets for the refugees. She does not disclose her name even to 
me. She wants me to acknowledge receipt in my prayer speech. 
I accordingly do so. 

It is surprising that people of the States whose rulers have 
expressed a desire to accede to India are sending me telegrams 
full of complaints. If a raja or a jagirdar feels that he cannot 
carry on the administration all by himself, who can force him 
to keep his State as a separate entity? Those who spend money 
on these telegrams would be better advised to save their money. 
It seems to me those behind these telegrams have some axe to 
grind. They should go to the Home Secretary for advice. 

Several Muslims especially in the Post and Telegraph Department 
say that they had earlier declared their willingness to stay in the 
Union for propaganda purposes and that they now want to change 
their option. There are also Muslims who have been dismissed 
from service. I think the reason for this can only be that they 
are suspected of being anti-Hindu. I sympathize with them. But 
I feel that however unjustified the suspicion may be in individual 
instances it should be forgiven and they should not give way to 
anger. I can only offer my well-tried prescription. Very few 
people can get into Government jobs. It should never be one’s 



320 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


aim in life to secure a Government job. One’s aim in life should 
only be to live honestly. If a man is willing to use his hands 
he will always find scope to make an honest living. I think that 
if Muslims want to retain their self-respect they should not run 
after Government jobs to the extent of going to Pakistan for them. 
Power comes from true service. Often power becomes a cause for 
one’s downfall. To fight for it is unseemly. At the same time 
it is the duty of the Government to create opportunities of em- 
ployment for the large number of unemployed men and women. 
If the task is handled with skill it can bring benefits to the Govern- 
ment instead of being a strain. I assume here that those for 
whom work has to be found will be of sound health and will be 
willing workers, not shirkers. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 249-53 


280. LETTER TO HOSA RASHID^ 

December 30, 1947 

DEAR DAUGHTER^, 

You are silly. I would have welcomed your Hindustani 
however imperfect it would have been. As it is, I can hardly 
decipher your signature. Of this more when we meet. Do come 
with your friend and stay with me if you wish and will stand 
discomfort. 

Amtul Salaam writes to me often enough. I am sending her 
your letter. She will be pleased. 

Love. 

Bapu 

Begum Rashid 

17 Yashwant Nivas Road 

Indore 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* Widow of Abdul Rashid Khan, brother of Amtussalaam 
^ The superscription is in Hindi. 



281. LETTER TO MUNNALAL G. SHAH 


December 30, 1947 

CHI. MUNNALAL, 

If you can free yourself from the work there, you may 
come over whenever you wish. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 7225. Courtesy: Munnalal G. Shah 


282. LETTER TO JIVANJL D. DESAL 

December 30, 1947 

CHI. JIVANJI, 

I am sending very little English material this time. The 
Gujarati matter, I feel, is sufficient. I am sending Sundarlal’s 
Hindi and English articles. You may, if you wish, break up 
both into instalments. If I feel like it, I may send something 
more tomorrow. 

You will see what I have done in regard to the Urdu [Harijan].^ 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 9990. Also C. W. 6964. Cour- 
tesy: Jivanji D. Desai 


> Vide pp. 314-5. 


90-21 


321 



283. LETTER TO SHARD A G. CHOKHAWALA 


December 30, 1947 

CHI. BABUDI, 

You must not be impatient. Follow Sushila’s' instructions. 
Having placed oneself in the hands of a doctor, it is best to do 
what he says. Nobody can truly foretell the future. One can do 
no more than guess. That being so, persistence in one course is 
the best remedy. Do nothing unwillingly or under anybody’s 
pressure. Give up all worry. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 10082. Courtesy: Sharda G. Chokhawala 


284. LETTER TO CHLMANLAL K SHAH 

December 30, 1947 

CHI. CHIMANLAL, 

I have fixed Rs. 50,000 for the Hindustani Prachar [Sabha]. 
Hand over the amount to Nanavati^. I expect you know that 
he has now been appointed Secretary. 

Let us see what happens in Sharda’s case. Sushila who 
is going there will take the decision. 

In the case of Champa^, I leave [the decision] to you. I 
think it is best that she should quit the Ashram. The burden, 
however, is to be borne by you. Hence if you find it too heavy, 
harden your heart and tell her clearly ‘No’. You may take it 
that it is for the good of all that the decision may not be taken 
by me. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* Dr. Sushila Nayyar 

^ Amritlal T. Nanavati, Secretary, Hindustani Prachar Sabha, Wardha 
^ Champa R. Mehta 


322 



285. LETTER TO MORARJI DESAI 


December 30, 1947 

BHAI MORARJI, 

Herewith Balubhai’s letter and a cutting. Please do what 
is needed and write to me if you have anything to say. If the 
information given in the letter is correct there is some substance 
in the complaint. 

Isn’t it proper that food control has been lifted if only in 
the urban areas? Another letter suggesting this is from Shrilal, 
which also I am enclosing. 

The third letter is from Boriavi. This is about milk. Please 
look into that, too. Please return the letters after you have made 
use of them. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


286. LETTER TO RAMDAS GANDHI 

December 30, 1947 

CHI. RAMDAS, 

This, a casual one. May you all progress in your spirit of 
service. That will be as good as doing all [that you should]. 
And for that too your health must be all right. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


287. LETTER TO HARSHADRAM 

December 30, 1947 

BHAI HARSHADRAM, 

I have both your letters, one to Dr. Mehta, dated the 21st 
and another to me, dated the 24th. Bulsaria also writes what 
you say. I have not been able to know who among those who 
write to me is looking after the work of Vachchharaj. Do you 

323 



324 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


all work as a team or separately ? You should not work separately. 
In the case of voluntary service all the workers should be comrades. 
I cannot know from here how much rent you should take from 
Vallabhram. That is why I must have used ‘reasonable’ or some 
such expression. 

I cannot recollect having got a letter earlier. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


288. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

December 30, 1947 

The notion that our own religion alone is true and all 
others are false is instilled in children right from their infancy. 
So they develop the attitude that what they believe alone is true. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 195 


289. LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM 

December 30, 1947 

DAUGHTER AMTUL SALAAM, 

You will be glad to read this letter. I have given you per- 
mission to come. The Maharaja of Patiala saw me. I told him 
about your family. Let us see what happens. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 593 



290. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


December 30, 1947 

I hold that self-government is not an end, but only a means 
to good government. And true democracy is what promotes the 
welfare of the people. The test of a good government lies in 
the largest good of the people with the minimum of controls. 
The test of autocracy, socialism, capitalism, etc., is also people’s 
welfare or good government. In themselves they are of no value. 
Any system of government can fail if people do not have honesty 
and a feeling of brotherhood. There may be work, there may be 
men to do the work and tools with which to do it, yet in my 
view a system that admits of poverty and unemployment is not 
fit to survive even for a day. 

How are you all? I myself am quite fit. I have to do or 
die here. Manu is ill. She has been having high fever for the 
last two days. This girl has learnt much but she neglects her 
health. Unless she has high fever she goes on working. She inflicts 
much brutality and violence on her body. Doctors suspect 
typhoid. We shall see. Even though sick she goes on doing me 
acts of service. I have just put her to sleep. 

Blessings to all the children. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 196 


291. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

December 30, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I told you yesterday in my written message and I also 
mentioned earlier that we should all know our respective places. 
We must know when to speak and when to keep silent and how 
to conduct ourselves, so that even if millions are there there 
should be no disturbance and no feeling of crowding. This is 

325 



326 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

what happens with armies. They maintain an external discipline. 
What happens internally is another matter. We have not had 
this kind of training. I have often noticed that, when after the 
prayer I rise to go, people want to take a peep at me from all 
around and crowd round me. Good manners demand that after 
the prayer meeting is over everyone should quietly remove him- 
self. Each one should ponder on whatever good things I may 
have said and go home. 

I have a letter from Bahawalpur. I once spoke about Baha- 
walpur to you.' The people there liked what I said. They want 
me to mention the matter again and repeat that all the Hindus 
and Sikhs who are still there and who want to leave the place 
should be allowed to do so. All those who want to come have 
not been able to come. There are still a large number of people 
there. They want that no obstacle should be placed in their way 
and they should not be subjected to any assaults. Whether my 
saying anything on the subject will have any effect God alone 
knows. But one must make an effort whatever the effectiveness of 
one’s effort might be. Of course the Nawab has said that Hindus, 
Muslims and Sikhs are equal in his eyes. And he is equally in- 
terested in the welfare of all his subjects. When he says so, who 
am I to question his motives? Still I can plead with him and 
his officials that those Hindus and Sikhs who do not want to stay 
there should be allowed to leave. It is his duty to put them on 
a train and have them safely escorted to the border. But even if 
he cannot do so he can at any rate allow them to leave on their 
own, taking away such of their property as they can. It will be 
a matter of thankfulness if he can do this much. But I do not 
want to limit myself to only making a plea to the Nawab. I want 
to tell Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah and his Government that today it 
has become impossible for a Hindu or any non-Muslim to live 
peaceably in Sind. Those Hindus who are called untouchables are 
particularly harassed there and they have no means of livelihood. 
They at least should not be subjected to indignities. Those who 
are not happy living there should be allowed to leave. If their 
conditions of life are made easy even those who have left Sind 
will go back there, seeing that Sind has regained its former 
state. But at present that is not the case. Even their schools 
have been taken over for the use of refugees who have gone 
there from Kathiawar. They say that the needs of the refugees 
are the first priority. How can Hindus live in Sind under such 


' Vide p. 288. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


327 


conditions? It will only mean that Pakistan has become Islam- 
istan where no non-Muslim may live or where he can live only 
as a slave. I think no one will like to be a slave. This sort of 
thing is in no one’s interest. I have many other things to say 
and only fifteen minutes to say them. 

I had spoken to you about Pandharpur.' There is a temple 
there of Lord Vithoba. It is the largest temple in Maharashtra. I 
have visited it. I had suggested that it should be opened to 
Harijans. Afterwards the trustees of the temple also supported 
my demand. When I got the news that the temple had been 
opened to the Harijans I had told you of it. Everyone seemed 
content and no voice was raised in opposition. Now they say 
that a large number of Brahmin priests are unhappy over this 
because the temple is visited by many Harijans every day. Some 
of the priests seem to have gone on a fast. This has distressed 
me. I have received this wire only today, and since I cannot 
reach there in any other way I think I should make a mention 
of the matter here and maybe my voice will reach Pandharpur. 
I want to say in all humility and sincerity that those who have 
resorted to the fast and still call themselves priests are really not 
priests. They are serving neither themselves nor Hinduism. The 
image in the temple is the image of Vithoba, i. e., of Krishna or 
Vishnu. It could not be the will of Vishnu that some should 
have His glimpse and others may not. In my view as long as 
the Harijans were barred from the temple it had not been really 
consecrated. Why should these people now fast? A Bill has been 
passed concerning Harijans’ entry into temples. Even the law- 
makers are Hindus. When millions of Hindus say that the temple 
should be opened to Harijans, how can they say that it should 
remain closed ? I see no merit in the fast. I think it is sinful and 
should be given up. I think the priests should relent and say they 
were mistaken and their eyes have now been opened. It cannot 
be that in the temple of God one man should be admitted and 
another kept out. It is believed that visiting a temple cleanses 
the sinner of his sins in the same way as bathing in the Ganga 
does. I personally do not support the view that the water from 
the Ganga washes away the sins but it is a belief widely held. 
And maybe it does good to one who bathes in the Ganga in the 
faith that his sins will be washed away. Besides who can say 
that Harijans are all sinners? There are among Harijans persons 
of great merit as well as sinners. 


I Vide Vol. LXXXIX, p. 478. 



328 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


A complaint has been sent to me pertaining to Bombay. 
It may be true of other places too. The complaint is that very 
little rice is supplied to card-holders in Bombay, perhaps half a 
seer in a week. This is wholly inadequate and will encourage 
black-marketing. I will say that control should go. Some people 
argue that rationing has brought much relief to cities. I think 
it should be removed from the cities too. If everyone conducts 
himself honestly there will be no need for controls. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 254-5 


292. TATTASAHEB KELKAR 

Friends have more than once asked me why I have not 
noticed the death of so great a patriot as Tatyasaheb Kelkar^, 
especially because he was a political opponent and more so be- 
cause I am much misunderstood among a school of Maha- 
rashtrians. These reasons made no appeal to me: the very rea- 
sons which according to my critics should have prompted my 
notice. 

I conceive it to be very unseemly to notice proforma such 
a serious event as death. But I must do so now, though it is 
late, because of the importunity of one of my oldest friends — 
Haribhau Phatak. 

I would at once admit that if it was usual for the Harijan 
to notice important deaths and births then Tatyasaheb’s death 
should be among the first to merit notice. But industrious read- 
ers will have noticed that the Harijan has not followed any 
such practice. Notice has depended upon my whim of the mo- 
ment and leisure. For some time past I have been unable to 
read newspapers regularly. 

Whatever may be said to the contrary, Tatyasaheb, though 
a political opponent, I had always counted as a friend whose 
criticism was profitable. I knew and honoured him as the late 
Lokamanya’s^ valued follower. It was, I fancy, in 1919 that 

’ N. C. Kelkar who died on October 4, 1947 

^ Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920); nationalist leader, scholar and writer; 
one of the founders of the Deccan Education Society, Kesari and Mahratta', 
was sentenced to six years’ deportation in 1908; launched the Home Rule 
Movement along with Annie Besant in 1916; started the Congress Democratic 
Party in 1920; author of The Orion, The Arctic Plome of the Vedas and Gitarahasya 



LETTER TO VALLABHRAM 


329 


I pleaded at an A. I. C. C. meeting for a constitution for the 
Congress' and said that if the Lokamanya gave me Tatya- 
saheb and the Deshbandhu^, Shri [I. B.]^ Sen, I would under- 
take to draw up one for submission to the Congress. Be it said 
to the credit of both the collaborators that though I submit- 
ted my draft to them in time, they never interfered with it. 
At the Committee that sat to consider the draft Tatyasaheb 
always offered helpful criticism. It was again at my suggestion 
that he was invariably appointed a member of the Working 
Committee. I do not remember an occasion when his criticism 
though sometimes bitter was not constructive. He was fearless 
but polite and friendly. 

I had early learnt that he was a scholarly writer of Mara- 
thi. It has been my regret that I never got the time to learn 
Marathi sufficiently to drink deep of the wisdom of the mo- 
dern Marathi writers like Tatyasaheb and the late Hari Nara- 
yan Apte. It would be churlish on my part to ignore the death 
of so great a star like Shri Narasopant Chintaman Kelkar in the 
Indian firmament. 

New Delhi, December 31, 1947 
Harijan, 4-1-1948 

293. LETTER TO VALLABHRAM 

December 31, 1947 

BHAI VALLABHRAM, 

I got your letter. Do go to Panchgani again when you 
are in a position to do so. 

I had tried bhilama‘^ under the supervision of a vaidya of 
Poona named Joshi, after my release from jail. He had told me 
that it benefited only if it was consumed in the proper man- 
ner. Need I tell you this? I wish you to cultivate ideal health 
of body and mind. 

* In December 1919, at Amritsar the A. I. C. C. had appointed a sub- 
committee, consisting of Gandhiji, N. C. Kelkar, I. B. Sen, A. Rangaswami 
Iyengar and Vithalbhai Patel to consider the constitution of the Congress. 
Vide Vol. XVI, pp. 374 and 463-4. 

^ C. R. Das (1870-1925); was elected President of Indian National 
Congress at Gaya, 1922, but resigned thereafter and organized Swarajya Party; 
Mayor of Calcutta, 1924 and 1925 

^ The source has “Nishith”, obviously a slip. 

Semicarpus anacardium 



330 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


I am not unaware of the chaos at Panchgani. But I find 
myself helpless. Things were all right when Vachchharaj was 
alive. His brother doesn’t have his capacity. You did well, how- 
ever, in drawing my attention. When you go again now, you 
may use your loving infiuence and get the necessary reforms 
introduced. 

I have been convinced for a long time of the truth of what 
you say, namely, that if the Indian vaidyas don’t see their dharma 
and act accordingly, they have no future. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 2922. Courtesy: Vallabhram 


294. LETTER TO SHARD A G. CHOKHAWALA 

^December 31, 1947Y 

CHI. BABUDI, 

I got your letter yesterday. I have already sent one through 
Sushila. You are a wise girl and hence I expect you will not 
worry on account of your health or anything else. One must 
acquire the faith that God will keep one as He wishes. If one 
gains this faith there can be no question of weeping either secretly 
or openly. 

I do get news of your health from some source or other. I 
hear that the doctor there who looks after you is a very noble 
lady, persevering and efficient. It is all right whether you are 
cured under her treatment or you succumb to your illness. 
Therefore, so long as the doctor does not wash her hands off 
you, you had better stay where you are. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


The letter is placed in the source among those of this date. 



295. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

December 31, 1947 

We used to find the struggle against the British a hard task. 
But today it seems to me that that fight was a comparatively 
simple matter. The struggle today is much more difficult. We 
could make a mountain out of a mole-hill during the British 
regime. Today we are cutting at our own roots. When duty 
calls we run away from it. We cannot establish good government 
without purification. We have deserved the present regime because 
we have not purified ourselves. This, in my view, is not swaraj. 
Swaraj means that under our own government one will live and 
let others live a simple life. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 201 


296. A LETTER 


December 31, 1947 

BHAI SHAHEED, 

I read in the newspapers that you had fallen ill and there- 
fore could not go to Lucknow.* What is this? How are you 
now? 

Dinshaw and Jehangir Patel came here and have gone back. 
From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


For the Indian Union Muslims’ Conference 


331 



297. LETTER TO HOSHIARI 

\Decemher 31, 1947y 

CHI. HOSHIARI, 

I wrote you a letter which you must have received. It 
pains me that you are not keeping good health. It is our 
duty to be able to face any situation. If we grow like that 
there will be no reason for worry. Do come over here if it is 
necessary. You must keep Gajaraj there; he ought to remain 
there, he should have the strength to live by himself. Perhaps 
this is what I have already written. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


298. LETTER TO BALVAJVTSIJVHA 


New^ Delhi, 

December 31, 1947 

CHI. BALVANTSINHA, 

I have your letter. I have already written a letter to you 
and along with it to Hoshiari also. You must have got it by 
now. It might be good for Hoshiari to come here. So she may 
as well come. Gajaraj is to stay on there, I suppose, and he is 
now used to living alone. I understand what you say about 
Sharda. I take a detached view. It is all right if she passes 
away. Well and good if she survives. If she dies she will be 
released from pain and have a new body. That is no small matter. 
And if she recovers and lives she will render service. Now 
Sushila is there for a couple of days; she will discuss everything. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


^ The letter is placed in the source among those of this date. 


332 



299. TALK WITH SUBHADRA GUPTA AND OTHERS^ 


December 31, 1947 

How can they (the refugees) have any confidence in you or 
respect for you when you go among them like up-to-date eves 
decked out in silks? And then you tell them to wear self-spun 
khadi and do the cleaning. ... I do not care if only half a dozen 
of you go. If there is simplicity, sincerity and purity within and 
without, your work will flourish. After doing full justice to your 
overloaded breakfast tables in your spacious bungalows you alight 
from posh cars dangling your stylish vanity bags, while those you 
are supposed to serve cannot even afford the luxury of a bath 
for lack of a change of clothes. Do you ever care to think that 
you are going to see people who had to leave behind properties 
worth thousands ? . . . Social service these days has become a means 
for getting on in the world. Many socialites have consequently 
taken to this profitable hobby. There are of course exceptions 
but they are few and far between. I want women workers who 
would set an example in self-help, simplicity and dignity of labour. 

Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, p. 683, and Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, 

pp. 201-2 


300. A MESSAGE^ 


New Delhi, 
December 31, 1947 

I am certain that no sin or guilt can be imputed to those 
Hindu and Sikh sisters who have been abducted, molested or 
converted by Muslims. They should be received with open arms 
and given the same place which they occupied before in society. 

The saintly poet Tulsidas once said: “Compassion is the 
root of religion.” If we do not show regard to those sisters of 
ours, we cease to have any religion at all. 

The Hindu, 1-1-1948 

^ The report in Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase has been collated with 
the Gujarati version in Dilhiman Gandhiji. 

^ The message, addressed to the refugees, was released through the 
Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation. 


333 



301. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 

New Delhi, 

December 31, 1947 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Here are a few questions. Let me see how many of them 
I can deal with. 

A friend writes to ask how, when Hindus and Sikhs cannot 
live peacefully in Sind, the Hindus from Punjab can be asked to 
go back. Has there been some significant change of heart? I 
think the correspondent could not have asked the question if 
he had known the whole situation. What I had told the 
Punjab Hindus was after a meeting I had with some Muslim 
friends.' I cannot yet definitely advise the Punjab refugees to 
go back. It is right that so long as Hindus and Sikhs cannot 
live happily in Sind I cannot have any hopes as regards the 
Punjab either. At present the complaints I am receiving from 
all sides seem to be as to why Hindus and Sikhs from other 
places in Pakistan are not being allowed to come. 

A few men from Chitral and Swat came to see me. They 
say there are still 251 Hindus in those places. I said that this 
was not a very large number. In Sind there are Hindus and 
Sikhs in much greater numbers and when they cannot come 
how can you expect the few in Swat and Chitral to be allowed 
to leave? The Government is doing what it can and so long 
as all the Hindus and Sikhs stranded in Pakistan do not arrive 
here it will not rest. I shall therefore not speak of the refugees 
returning to Pakistan till there is a change of heart. I know 
that if there is a change of heart in one place the same thing 
will happen at other places. If we have a change of heart here 
there will be a change of heart in Pakistan. It will take some 
effort no doubt but there will be a change. After all madness 
seized us only after it had seized people in Pakistan. I shall not go 
into the various stages and degrees of madness. If sanity does not 
return we shall lose both India and Pakistan. There will be a 
war. The present state cannot last. People say that the required 
change in the situation has already taken place, that Hindus and 
Sikhs have come to India and Muslims from India have gone to 

' Vide pp. 212-3. 


334 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


335 


Pakistan. They point out that transfer of populations of such 
magnitude cannot be reversed. I do not hold this view. Even 
if I am the only one to say it I shall still say that so long as 
people do not go back to their homes there will be no peace 
in the two countries. All the comforts you can provide to the 
Sikh and Hindu refugees are not going to heal the wounds they 
have suffered. It will be a matter of perpetual distress to them 
that they have lost their hearths and homes and if there is a war 
in fifty years’ time or a hundred years’ time, they are going to 
remember this. Such things are not forgotten. 

A friend asks if the refugee camps cannot be made cen- 
tres of training in handicrafts. This is certainly possible if even 
a single refugee wants it. It will not be necessary for me to 
bring any pressure on the Government to do this. It will readily 
agree to do what will save them the enormous expenditure they 
incur at present in running these camps. This will also enable 
the refugees to earn their livelihood without losing self-respect. 
I suggested that the friend should campaign for this and create 
an atmosphere where the refugees will themselves ask that they 
should be taught handicrafts. This will raise India higher and 
arrest the rot that has set in in India. 

A lady has just given me this note. She is I think a Hindu 
from Pakistan. She says she had gone out for a short period 
and when she returned she found the lock of her house broken 
and some Sikhs occupying the house. She went to the police 
and had them arrested. One of them escaped. Now she wants 
to know what she should do — whether she should leave the 
house? I would not advise her to leave. I did not advise even 
those coming from Pakistan to leave their houses. But what is 
my advice worth ? People will not be ready to lay down their 
lives on my saying so. I shall advise the lady not to leave her 
house. Why did the Sikh friends forcibly enter her house? The 
refugees should declare that they will not force themselves on 
anyone, nor enter anyone’s house without permission. They should 
live on what little money they get. 

A lady has written to me a beautiful letter. She does not 
give her name and address. She says she listens to my speeches 
every day on the radio, but that the hymns and bhajans sung 
at the meeting are not relayed. She suggests that if not every 
day at least once every third or fourth day the prayer should be 
broadcast; that my speeches are only of mundane significance, 
while prayers are something spiritual. My speeches are recorded 
by the radio people and then relayed. I have no hand in 



336 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 

this. Maybe they think that what I say will make for public 
good. I do not know what is possible for the radio people to 
do. But I think the bhajans sung here, however badly sung 
they may be, should be relayed. I respect the sister for what 
she has written. I must however disagree with her when she 
separates the prayer from the prayer speech. I have told you 
that what I say after the prayer is part of the prayer. I can- 
not sing it to you and my voice has no sweetness. Besides, I 
have grown so old that I would not be able to sing even if I 
wanted. So the girls sing and sing well. Whatever therefore is 
said or sung here is a prayer addressed to God. I should ad- 
vise people to understand this. 

Now about Junagadh and Ajmer. I spoke to you about 
the telegrams from Junagadh. Now I have a telegram about 
Ajmer. I know the story concerning Ajmer. What happened 
there was pretty grim. But the telegram exaggerates it. Such 
exaggeration only annoys people and provokes them. There 
is already so much poison in Delhi; but to say that Muslim 
property there is being plundered and their houses burnt, and 
that the shrine is in danger, is not right. The fact is that no 
one is going to touch the shrine. Why then do they send me 
such telegrams? There certainly have been instances of looting 
there. There also have been cases of arson and killings too. 
This is not to be denied. But exaggerating it only makes it 
smaller. I appeal to everyone to compare the report with the 
events. Only then can we ensure the justice which we seek. If 
we cannot confine ourselves to facts we are doomed. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy : All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 255-8 

302. TALK WITH ENGLISH FRIENDS^ 

December 31, 1947^ 

No human being or religious institution is perfect in this 
imperfect world. Religious institutions are an answer to the chal- 
lenge of the age and the particular circumstances prevailing at 
the time. Today we worship Christ but the Christ in the fiesh 
we crucified. Stoning prophets and erecting churches to their 


^ Who, accompanied by Amrit Kaur, met Gandhiji in the evening 
2 From Dilhiman Gandhiji 



LETTER TO KARL STRUVE 


337 


memory afterwards has been the way of the world through the 
ages. They in the past could at least plead in mitigation that 
they did not know what they were doing. We can offer no such 
defence. And as the Confucian saying goes, “To know what is 
right and not to do it is cowardice.” 

In theory, a perfect religion is possible. But mankind has 
not known any so far just as no man can claim to have seen 
God. It is this that has been the goal of my aspiration and 
striving for the last sixty years. I cannot claim to have attained 
complete success but I feel I am coming closer to it every day 
and that is enough for me. 

Mahatma Gandhi — The Last Phase, Vol. II, p. 697 


303. LETTER TO KARL STRUVE^ 

Birla House, New Delhi, 

January 1, 1948 

dear friend, 

I thank you for your letter of 11th November^ which I 
have just received. 

I have not seen the report you refer to. In any case, what- 
ever I have said does not refer in any way to the failure of ahimsa, 
but it refers to my failure to recognize, until it was too late, 
that what I had mistaken for ahimsa was not ahimsa, but passive 
resistance of the weak, which can never be called ahimsa even 
in the remotest sense. The internecine feud that is going on today 
in India is the direct outcome of the energy that was set free 
during the thirty years’ action of the weak. Hence, the proper 
way to view the present outburst of violence throughout the world 
is to recognize that the technique of unconquerable non-violence 
of the strong has not been discovered as yet. Not an ounce of 
non-violent strength is ever wasted. I must not, therefore, flatter 
myself with the belief nor allow friends like you to entertain the 
belief that I have exhibited any heroic and demonstrable non- 
violence in myself as yet. All I can claim is that I am sailing 
in that direction without a moment’s stoppage. This confession 


' This, along with the addressee’s letter, appeared in Harijan under the 
title “Ahimsa Never Fails”. 

^ Vide Appendix III. 


90-22 



338 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


should Strengthen your belief in non-violence and spur you and 
friends like you to action along the path of non-violence. 

Yours sincerely, 

M. K. Gandhi 

Karl Struve, Esq. 

Wenterf Bei Reinbek 

From a photostat: G. N. 860 


304. LETTER TO PRAGJI K. NATAK 

New Delhi, 

January 1, 1948 

BHAI PRAGJI, 

I have your letter. 

I am pained by such ignorance on the part of an eminent 
person like you. And why all this hatred of the Muslims? 

If we do not prefix Shri to a man’s name we should then 
use Mr. If not that, then ji for a Hindu, and saheb for a Mus- 
lim — what is improper about this? 

Serve the people where you are, that will be much better 
than coming to me. 

Bapu 

Pragjibhai Kalyanji Nayak, Engineer 

Mama’s Pole 

Baroda 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


305. FRAGMENT OF A LETTERS 

January 1, 1948 

So your brother has departed. I had not even known 
that he was ill. We must be thankful that God has relieved him 
of his suflfering. One day all of us — you, I and our near and 
dear ones — have to go. Now all over the country hundreds 
are dying every day. Many have left behind orphans with no 

one to support them. Many others have lost innocent children 
of tender age. You must consider the plight of the country and 
console yourself. It is selfish to think only of one’s own sorrow. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 206 

‘ This was addressed to a woman. 



306. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


January 1, 1948 

Blind imitation is evidence of paralysis of the mind. How 
can we apply the rule of measure for measure to something that 
is bad and imitate it? It betrays meanness to talk about the 
number of Muslims killed in India or the number of Hindus 
killed in Pakistan. May God grant good sense to all. Today I 
am sustained only by this prayer. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhirmn Gandhiji — II, p. 210 


307. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

January 1, 1948 

In my opinion there is no improvement in the situation 
here. For the present I am here but I am not sure what it will 
be possible to do. If there is peace in the city it is only from 
fear of the police. There is lire in people’s hearts. That lire must 
either consume me or must be extinguished. No third way seems 
likely at the moment. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^II, p. 206 


308. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

January 1, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Today is New Year’s Day according to the English calendar. 
I am happy to see such a large number of people gathered here. 
I regret that it took no less than 7 minutes for us to make room 
for the women to sit. Even one minute lost at such a meeting is 
hundreds of thousands of minutes lost to hundreds of thousands 
of people. Our brothers should learn to offer first place to the 

339 



340 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


sisters. The country where women are not honoured is not really 
civilized. According to Manu’ men and women should both under- 
stand their own limits. We should learn to behave with added 
restraint now that we are free. I hope the audience attending 
the prayer meetings will be even larger in future. But all those 
that come should come with prayer in their hearts, for prayer is 
the food for the heart. We cannot get anywhere else such food 
as we get from God. I also hope that the audience will maintain 
silence and will return to their homes in silence. 

Recently there was a Harijan conference in U. P., at which 
it is reported, a minister preached to the Harijans that they 
should give up their unclean habits, unclean living and unclean 
clothes and abstain from alcohol. A Harijan countered that the 
Government could burn up the unclean clothes just as it could 
have palm trees cut down and wine shops closed. I admire the 
courage of the Harijan friend. I for one make gur from palm. I 
shall advise the Harijan brethren that the cure is in their own 
hands. Even if liquor is sold in shops they should keep away 
from it as they would from poison. In fact liquor is worse than 
poison. Labourers drink in order to forget their domestic worries. 
Poison can only kill the body. Liquor can kill even the soul. 
One loses the ability to control one’s action. I would advise 
the Government to close down liquor shops and to replace them 
by eating-houses where people could get pure and light food. 
Here they should distribute books from which people could learn 
something and they should provide to them some harmless en- 
tertainment. But there should be no place for cinema. This 
will help people to give up alcohol. I say this from my experi- 
ence of many countries. I have seen this in India and I had 
seen it also in South Africa. I am quite sure that giving up 
alcohol increases both the physical vigour of man and his capacity 
to earn. It is for this reason that prohibition has been a part 
of the Congress programme since 1920. Now that we are free 
the Government should redeem its pledge and give up the un- 
holy excise revenue. It is not a real loss, for it will bring enor- 
mous good to the people. This is the way to our prosperity. 
We should achieve this through our own effort. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 258-9 


* Codifier of Hindu Law, author of Manavadharmashastra, generally 
known as Manusmriti 



309. A NOTE^ 


[After January 1, 1948Y 
I didn’t see the pen at all. I even inquired about it. If 
you had told me, I would certainly have written. Now from 
tomorrow after you have finished other things go for a bath. 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 8731 


310. WANTED ACCURACY 

A correspondent from Malabar writes:^ 

The confidence with which Shri Dev Prakash Nayyar has written 
on the “Intellectual Content of the Takli” in the Harijan of 21-12-’47 
takes one’s breath away. He has made out that all knowledge is con- 
tained in the takli or can be derived from it or it is the quintessence of 
knowledge. . . . No doubt, the takli, charkha and spinning have a place 
in the proper scheme of education, especially, Nayee Talim, but to say 
that the takli naturally takes you to mathematics, physics, economics, etc., 
is but “ sentimental nonsense ”. The laA/i-enthusiasts need not carry their 
arguments in favour of spinning to a ridiculous extent. The cause of 
spinning cannot be advanced that way. 

The correspondent evidently has not read as carefully as 
necessary Shri Dev Prakash Nayyar’ s contribution on the takli. 
As I read it, he has advanced no such claim as the correspon- 
dent imagines. The author has not said that “all knowledge is 
contained in” or that “it is derived from” the takli, nor has he 
said that it is “the quintessence of knowledge”. His thesis simply 
is that much knowledge that we derive from the books can be 
better given by competent teachers through crafts. The fact that 
the correspondent who is a practised spinner of long standing is 
“shocked” at Shri Dev Prakash Nayyar’s claim and calls it “sen- 
timental nonsense” proves that education does not reside in the 
takli, but it does in an educationist who, like Shri Dev Prakash 
Nayyar, having tested the possibilities of the takli is entitled to 
make the claim above mentioned. 

This was scribbled on a letter from Nrisimhaprasad K. Bhatt 
dated January 1. 

^ Only extracts from the letter are reproduced here. 


341 



342 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


I fear I must deprive the correspondent of the smug satis- 
faction that not even I have attributed to the innocent-looking 
takli more than “economic and moral virtues”. Even the modest 
claim, I am sorry, has not found universal acceptance. I was 
probably the first in India to ascribe what may be termed extra- 
vagant virtue to the takli and the like. Practical teachers along the 
line have found many more possibilities in handicrafts than I 
had mentioned. All honour to them for it. 

I would strongly advise the correspondent humbly to accept 
Shri Dev Prakash Nayyar’s cautious claim and seek more infor- 
mation from him as to how in the course of his giving his 
pupils lessons in Nayee Talim, he came upon his discovery. If 
the discovery is only imaginary, the correspondent will soon find 
out to Shri Dev Prakash Nayyar’s discomfiture. The fall of an 
apple from its branch is said to have enabled Newton’s rich mind 
to discover the law of gravitation. 

New Delhi, January 2, 1948 
Harijan, 11-1-1948 

311. LETTER TO D. G. TENDULKAR 


New Delhi, 
January 2, 1948 

MY DEAR TENDULKAR', 

Here are the addresses which I was able to correct between 
yesterday and this morning under severe stress. I have removed 
the inverted commas commencing with each paragraph. I hope 
you will understand all the corrections and that I have not been 
too late.^ 

Tours, 

Bapu 

D. G. Tendulkar 
407 Kalbadevi Road 
Bombay 

From a facsimile; Mahatma, Vol. I, p. VII 

' Author of Mahatma : Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, which was 
published in eight volumes 

^ Gandhiji took a keen interest in the addressee’s venture and on January 
22, 1948, discussed with him “the smallest details” about the format, the 
type, illustrations, standardization of spelling and so on. 



312. FRAGMENT OF A LETTERS 

January 2, 1948 

The Gita rightly says that action without knowledge is of no 
worth. I have had experience of this many times and many others 
too will have had the experience. If action is informed by know- 
ledge devotion comes on its own. To do this one must always 
take one’s stand on truth. If one has come to realize truth 
nothing else remains to be done. As we look into a mirror and 
discover the lightest spots on our faces, so must we look into 
our hearts. Only afterwards may we criticize others. Hardly any- 
one can claim perfection for himself. It is my humble advice to 
you that rather than observe the faults of . . . you should observe 
your own. . . . should follow my advice only if he finds it good. 
Otherwise he may reject it. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^II, pp. 212-3 


313. LETTER TO JAISUKHLAL GANDHI 

January 2, 1948 

I find myself here in a fiery pit. It is difficult to say what 
will happen. Maybe we shall know soon. Manu is completely 
exhausted. Her condition has reached a stage where it causes 
worry. The fault is perhaps as much mine as hers. I have made 
her work eighteen hours at a stretch. And I have subjected her 
to an equal or even greater mental strain. After all she is only 
a young girl of sixteen or seventeen years. Still I am convinced 
that if she only has Ramanama inscribed in her heart she will 
suffer no physical enfeeblement. But how can I measure this? 
So long as her condition does not improve it must remain a cause 
of worry to me. In this yajna her part is of no small significance. 
So many girls come to me. But in the matter of service Manu, 
considering her age, surpasses all the others. And if I had not 
sent for her, I would have carried the guilt of having done her 
injustice. Now my only wish is to see her restored to health. 

* Omissions in the letter are as in the source. 


343 



344 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


I cannot say how long I shall have to stay here. I have 
to do or die. There is no third way. 

How is your health ? I hope you are not continuing the dietetic 
experiments. Manu will write the rest. I am well. It is God’s 
mercy that under the present strain I am able to keep myself fit. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 


[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 213 


314. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

January 2, 1948 

Man today is afraid of man, afraid of his neighbour. How 
can I then talk about national issues? We deliberately bring 
suffering on ourselves, deceive ourselves. No one can harm an- 
other. In my view man is himself the cause of his sufferings. 
This city which is the metropolis of the country has the appear- 
ance of a dead city. No one trusts anyone. Such peace as one 
finds is to be attributed to the fear of the police. Why is it 
that the freedom achieved through non-violence is sought to be 
sustained by violence? I have been searching my heart. I find 
despair there. Maybe it was the will of God that I should wit- 
ness this day. Now I have to do or die. Let us see how much 
I have yet to overcome to reach the state of sthitaprajna. I thank 
God that he woke me up at last. 

Manu is seriously ill. The girl has tremendous energy but 
she has become weak in the body. I admit that I have treated 
her harshly and this is the result of that. After all how much can 
her poor body bear? I have extracted much physical work from 
her and even more mental work. But I have the satisfaction that 
she has lost nothing. I have trained her well. If only I could 
bring her back to health now! She is careless about her health. 
She forgets everything in serving me. You should not worry. 
I am much concerned about her health. Typhoid is suspected. 

How are you all? The situation in Bihar is difficult, but 
the fate of Delhi today will be the fate of the country. . . .' 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 211-2 

' Omission as in the source 



315. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

January 2, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Tomorrow we may have to hold the prayer meeting at the 
Wavell Canteen, where many refugees are living. I have been 
there once and I was asked then to hold the prayer meeting there, 
but I could not stay on. Today someone from the camp came 
and requested me and I have agreed to go there tomorrow. 
So if it does not rain tomorrow I shall hold the prayer there. 
But if it rains it may not be possible to have the prayer there. 
In that case we shall have it here. In any case the prayer meet- 
ing will be held. Thus it is a little uncertain about tomorrow. 
Of course if you wish, you may come here and if there is no 
prayer, you can go back. 

I saw you laugh at my little umbrellah It is a beautiful 
thing. It costs nothing. It was given to me free of cost not 
because I am a Mahatma. The fact is that when I was touring 
in Noakhali,^ it was very hot and some people took pity on me 
and gave me this. They put it on also when it rains. Mostly 
people have to work in the fields, they cannot do so in the 
heat of the sun without putting this on. Muslims live there in 
large numbers. There are Hindus too, but mostly they carry on 
business. Everyone has this kind of umbrella. There was a 
Muslim friend there because after all every Muslim did not con- 
sider me his enemy and later they had all understood that I 
had not gone there to plunder them or to prepare a case against 
them, but I had gone there only to give such solace as I could 
to the Hindus. So they gave me this umbrella. I did not really 
need it much there because I did not do more than an hour 
of walking each day. They also gave one to Nirmal Babu^. When 
I left Noakhali Manu suggested that I should take along this 
umbrella because I would have to do a lot of walking in the 
sun and it would be a good covering for the head. This can be 
made anywhere. It can be made even here. The other kind of 

^ A broad straw hat which Gandhiji used as an umbrella 

^ From November 6, 1946 to March 1947 

^ Nirmal Kumar Bose, a professor of Calcutta University, who accom- 
panied Gandhiji as his interpreter on his walking tour of Noakhali 


345 



346 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


umbrella needs a handle while this has no handle. When it is 
windy we can tie the string attached to it round the face. 

The bhajan that was sung today, though well sung, is really 
a morning bhajan. In this bhajan we pray to God to wake up. 
But God is always awake. He never sleeps. But there is a 
belief in Hinduism that when dawn breaks everyone must wake 
up. The devout go round calling everyone to arise. We have 
bhajans for the morning, bhajans for the noon, bhajans for the eve- 
ning and bhajans for the night. Only musicologists know all the 
subtle distinctions. I do not know much but since some bhajan 
or other is sung here every day I have come to have some idea. 

I have a long letter apparently written by a Hindu. He 
says I have learnt nothing and am still friendly with Muslims, 
though I have been repeatedly told how stupid it is to imagine 
that any Muslim can be our brother or be loyal to the Indian 
Union. If there are any such, he says, I should keep them 
and send the rest away. If I did not do so, what would 
happen, he asks, in case, God forbid, a war broke out between 
India and Pakistan. Do I imagine that the several crores 
of Muslims in India will be loyal to India and fight against 
Pakistan? It is easy to pose such questions but difficult to 
answer them. All that I can say is: Wherever we may choose 
to live, if we want to live as men we must not assume anyone 
to be bad till he has been proved to be bad. If you read news- 
papers you will know that recently about one lakh of Muslims 
had gathered in Lucknow.* One cannot believe that there was 
not a single Muslim Leaguer among them. There must have 
been some, even if there had been no League leaders. If later 
they betray you, you can shoot them. You may shoot one or 
two or a certain number. Everyone will not be disloyal. No- 
where in the world can everyone be disloyal. Therefore the cor- 
respondent writes out of ignorance. But today he is angry. The 
barbarities the Muslims have committed are on his brain. He 
wants all Muslims to be driven out. If similarly Pakistan says 
that Hindus have committed barbarities here and they should 
be driven out, I shall say it is foolish to say so. It will be the 
limit of folly. It is this attitude that was responsible for the 
partition of the country. If you want to bring the two together, 

* At the Indian Union Muslims’ Conference, which met on December 27 
and 28, Abul Kalam Azad called for the winding up of the Muslim 
League in India. The Conference unanimously adopted a resolution asking 
Muslims in India to dissolve all communal and political organizations and 
advising them to join the Congress. 



IS IT DESERVED? 


347 


that can be done only if we become good. Only the good and 
the noble can be brave. Stupid people can never be brave. To- 
day the poison around us is only increasing. Kashmir has added 
more poison. If there is a war both countries are going to bleed. 
I do not wish to be alive to see that. I do not wish to be a 

witness to that carnage. I can only pray to God and ask you 

all to join in the prayer that He may take me away. Why should 
we not so conduct ourselves that any conflict between India and 
Pakistan becomes impossible? We must be brave and trust the 
Muslims. If later they violate the trust you can cut off their 
heads. But you cannot say that if anyone refuses to go to Pakis- 
tan his head should be cut off. This means cutting off millions 

of heads on both sides of the border which would be the limit 
of madness. There are now perhaps thirty or thirty-five millions 
of Muslims in India. If we harass them we shall not survive as 
a nation nor can our Hinduism. I pray to God that He may 
cure us of this folly and this madness so that our country which 
has advanced may continue to make progress. Today we seem to 
be falling and the sort of letter that the correspondent has written 
gives further impetus to the fall. The note is written in English. 
He writes English quite well, but I cannot praise him for that. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 260-1 


316. IS IT DESERVED? 


New Delhi, 

January 3, 1948 

In the course of a long letter which Reverend Dr. John 
Haynes Holmes' had written to me before leaving the hospitable 
shores of India, he writes: 

Of course you have been sad, well-nigh overborne, by the tragedies 
of recent months, but you must never feel that this involves any break- 
down of your life-work. Human nature cannot bear too much — it cracks 
under too great strain — and the strain in this case was as terrific as it was 
sudden. But your teaching remained as true and your leadership as sound 

' (1879-1964); a pacifist, founder of a non-sectarian community church 
in New York; Editor of Unity in which Gandhiji’s Autobiography was first pub- 
lished in America; author of My Gandhi 

Dr. Haynes Holmes came to India on October 5, 1947 as Tagore Memo- 
rial Professor at the Banaras Hindu University under the auspices of the Watu- 
mul Foundation. He met Gandhiji on October 12, 1947. 



348 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


as ever. Single-handed you saved the situation, and brought victory out of 
what seemed for the moment to be defeat. I count these last few months 
to be the crown and climax of your unparalleled career. You were never 
so great as in these dark hours. 

I wonder if the claim can be proved. That much more than 
Dr. Holmes observed can be proved of ahimsa, I have not the 
slightest doubt. My difficulty is fundamental. Have I attained the 
requisite qualifications for exhibiting the virtues of ahimsa, even 
as Dr. Holmes has said ? Knowing as I do the working of ahimsa, 
however imperfectly, I see every reason for the utmost caution 
in advancing claims that cannot be proved beyond a doubt. 

M. K. G. 

From a photostat: C. W. 10971. Courtesy: Rogers W. Holmes. Also 
Harijan, 11-1-1948 


317. FRAGMENT OF A LETTERS 

January 3, 1948 

I have your angry letter. How can I tolerate your being so 
angry? When iron is heated sparks fly from it. But however 
much one may strike it with a hammer, the hammer does not 
become hot. If you can only make yourself like a hammer 
everything will come about as you desire. For the rest, if the 
sea catches fire what can anyone say? 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 218 


318. LETTER TO SAVITRI BAJAJ 

January 3, 1948 

CHI. savitrF, 

Kamalnayan told me that you have had a baby and that 
you had afterwards developed a fever. I hope by now it is gone 
and you are both well. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 3062 

’ This was addressed to a woman. 

^ Wife of Kamalnayan Bajaj, son of Jamnalal Bajaj 



319. LETTER TO HEMPRABHA DAS GUPTA 


New Delhi, 

January 3, 1948 

CHI. HEMPRABHA, 

I have your letter. What do we lose if we do not get a 
certificate from the Charkha Sangh? In my opinion we only 
gain as our aim is to serve khadi and thus the Charkha Sangh. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 


From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 2741 


320. ERAGMENT OE A LETTER 

January 3, 1948 

It does not appear likely that I shall be able to get out of 
here. I have to do or die. You may think there is peace in 
Delhi. But that peace is not the peace of the hearts. It is im- 
posed by arms. I am waiting for the call from within. I have here 
three or four girls in attendance. I am living in the palatial Birla 
House. But I find no rest. The girls are serving me well. For 
the time being I do not feel the need to call upon your serv- 
ices. Of course the girls can leave whenever they want with my 
permission. Only Manu has a part in this yajna. The rest of 
the girls are here only accidentally. They can go as they came. 
I have to admit that Manu’s service in this yajna has been 
significant. Only, she has been neglecting her body. 

How are you all? How is Khadi Pratishthan doing? How 
many people are there in the Ashram? Ashrams should not 
depend on outside help. About Sevagram I have come to the 
conclusion that it should either become self-supporting or it 
should be closed down. The Ashram has become like a pinjra- 
pole^. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 218-9 

' A shelter for old and sick cattle 


349 



321. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

January 3, 1948 

I am nowhere near realizing Rama yet, but I am striving. 
When I have the realization, the glow of my ahimsa will spread 
all around. 

The situation here is extremely perilous. About Kashmir 
Mountbatten is doing all he can. Whatever may happen, Bengal 
and Bihar must be spared the conflagration. If there is the 
slightest disturbance there you will not find me alive. Let 
everyone have this message of mine. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 217 


322. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 


New Delhi, 

January 3, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I am happy to be able to fulfil the promise I made to 
you to visit the camp and speak a few words to you. I am 
also happy to observe that there are almost as many women 
in the camp as there are men. First of all I shall request you 
to join me in the prayer that peace and love may again be 
established in India and the world and all men may become 
brothers. Today there is no peace to be seen anywhere in the 
world. Peace cannot be established with the help of money. 
So long as there is no peace in the heart there can be no 
peace outside. Only when peace issues from within the heart 
and is expressed through the eyes, words and actions of men 
can we say that peace has been established. A man of peace 
can live happily even in a mud hut and has no thought of the 
morrow, for it is only God who knows what will happen on 
the morrow. Shri Ramachandra, who was a man like us, had 
no idea when he was about to be installed on the throne that he 
would have to go into exile. But he realized only too well that 

* Held at Wavell Canteen Refugee Camp 


350 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


351 


securing peace was not the same thing as securing a throne and 
that peace was not dependent on external conditions. There- 
fore when he knew that he had to go to the forest his peace 
was not ruffled. If Hindus and Sikhs could have that realiza- 
tion the madness that has seized them would have been cured 
and, whatever the actions of the Muslims, they themselves would 
have remained calm. If Hindus and Sikhs even now realize this, 
I am sure it will have the most desirable effect on the Muslims. 

I am told that this camp is being very well managed. I 
cannot accept this assurance fully till I know that the refugees 
too fully participate in keeping the camp clean and that they 
co-operate with the officials in every way. I know how dirty 
the streets of Delhi are. One can only say that the camp is 
well managed when it is made to look at least cleaner than the 
roads of Delhi. I know the sufferings you have had to bear. 
Some of you have come from well-to-do homes. You must not 
hope here for the comforts you had in the past. You must 
learn to adapt yourselves to the new situation and try with 
patient labour to improve your conditions. 

I remember how on the eve of the Boer War in 1899 
Englishmen had left the Transvaal for Natal. They knew how to 
face hardships. They all lived the same way. One of them was 
an engineer and worked with me as a carpenter. We have been 
a slave country for centuries and we have not learnt this vir- 
tue. Now that we are free — and freedom is a precious thing 
— I hope our refugee brothers and sisters will learn something 
from their sufferings and make this an ideal camp so that people, 
if not from all over the world, least from all over India, can come 
and visit it and take pride in it. The hymn that has been sung 
in the prayer just now means that we should surrender to God 
all that we possess and take from it only the barest minimum 
for our needs. If we act in conformity with this hymn, not 
only this camp but the whole of Delhi will breathe a new life 
and all our hearts will be filled with an inner joy. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy ; All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 261-2 



323. QUESTION BOX^ 


q. It does not matter whether the lingua franca be called Hindi or 
Hindustani; in any case the common language in actual use will remain 
Hindustani. It cannot, however, be gainsaid that in advanced literature and 
science certain words will be necessary which can only be derived from 
Sanskrit. Where is the harm in making this clear to the public? 

A. The first part of the question would be correct provided 
the name adopted were accepted by all in the same light. 
The controversy arises not over the name but what it is meant 
to convey. In advanced literature and science we should not 
draw exclusively from Sanskrit. A small committee can be ap- 
pointed to prepare a dictionary of current words irrespective of 
their original source. 

C). With regard to the script, it would be burdensome to have to use 
two scripts in the conduct of the affairs of the nation. Why not then adopt 
the Nagari script which is current in all provinces? Does the two-script 
proposal mean that the Central Government should use both the scripts in its 
correspondence and publications? Would telegraph and other offices also 
have to use both the scripts? 

I do not subscribe to the view often put forward that the two-script pro- 
posal is meant to appease the Muslims. Our concern should be to select the 
script which might be advantageous to the nation as a whole without wishing 
any injustice. It would not be correct to hold that the adoption of the Nagari 
script would be harmful to Muslim interests. As far as I can see, it would 
be necessary to adopt both the scripts, but only as a temporary measure — 

ultimately one script should be acceptable to all. How can this be 

disputed ? 

A. With the adoption of the two scripts, the easier one 

will ultimately survive. All that is wanted is that the Urdu 
script should not be boycotted, as such boycott would imply 

discrimination. A controversy arose over such discrimination 
and this has now been accentuated. With this background, we 
who believe in unity and are opposed to civil strife are bound 
to adopt both the scripts. Again we cannot forget that many 
Hindus and Sikhs are ignorant of the Nagari script. There is 

* A Hindi version of this appeared in Harijan Sevak, 11-1-1948. The 
questions were sent by Rameshchandra of Shillong; vide p. 360. 

352 



FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


353 


no question of all people having to learn both the scripts, but 
only of those liable to serve outside their province. Nor is it 
suggested that all notices should be issued by the Central Gov- 
ernment in both the scripts — but only those meant for all. 

Having regard to the present communal antagonism, the 
boycott of the Urdu script would be regarded as an anti- 
democratic measure. 

The question whether telegraph and other offices would 
also have to use both the scripts is a minor one. When we get 
rid of the incubus of the English language and the Roman 
script, our minds will be clearer and we shall realize the futi- 
lity of such controversies. 

While we must always refrain from an improper course with 
the object of appeasing others, there is no harm in conciliating 
when the course itself is intrinsically proper. If all accepted our 
script willingly, it would be so good, but even to achieve this 
end it is necessary to retain both the scripts at present. 

New Delhi, January 4, 1948 
Harijan, 11-1-1948 


324. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

January 4, 1948 

Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Everything about 
me is uncertain. But I am moving towards light. Your leucor- 
rhoea must be cured. You should abstain from salt. Pulses in 
this disease are as poison. So are spices. Hip-baths, mud- 
packs on the stomach and rest are necessary. Had you been 
here I would have made you fast. But I have full faith that 
if you resort to these external remedies and recite Ramanama 
with your whole heart, you will certainly be cured of the disease. 
In India 75 per cent of the women suffer from this ailment. 
The main reason is the feeling of shame associated with it, total 
ignorance about the matter and unnatural eating and living. 
It will not be wrong to say that our sisters do not have any 
idea of how terrible and painful this disease is. I have made 
up my mind that if I can extricate myself from my present 
involvements my first task will be to tackle all these diseases of 
women through nature cure. But today this seems fanciful. 

Chand is not yet fully restored. Her disease is more of the 
mind than of the body. Abha and Manu are well. Sushila is 
90-23 



354 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


due here today from Bombay. I write this in the early morning. 
Even if I can write to you only occasionally, you should write 
to me regularly. The rest from Manu. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^II, pp. 225-6 


325. FRAGMENT OF A LETTERS 

January 4, 1948 

Children should not write in pencil. They should not use 
a fountain-pen. Writing with a reed pen improves the hand- 
writing. I hope you help your mother with domestic chores 
and regularly spin half an hour every day. You should do 
physical exercises and make your body strong. I hope you have 
learnt to make chapatis and cook vegetables. Anyway you will 
tell me when we meet. Be cheerful and happy. Manu will 
write the rest. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 225 


326. LETTER TO M. B. GODBOLE^ 


New Delhi, 

January 4, 1948 

BHAI GODBOLE, 

I have your letter. The first book was a translation of Dr. 
Lindlahr’s book, was it not? Are there any other books by him? 

I no longer hold the view I had held earlier. Greater ex- 
perience has convinced me that Dr. Lindlahr’s book is quite 
ordinary. His book has gained very little currency in America. 
Anyway you may send me your book. I would like to see it 

* This was addressed to a young girl. 

^ This was in reply to the addressee’s letter dated December 30, 1947 

requesting Gandhiji to send a foreword for his translation of Dr. Lindlahr’s 
Practice of Nature Cure. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 355 

when I have some leisure. The publication of the book should 
not be held up for the sake of my foreword. 

I feel grateful that you have agreed to render some help 
at Uruli. You should go there and see things for yourself. It 
has a trust of which Dr. Mehta is one of the trustees. There 
is no harm in doing that. I am writing to the Secretary of the 
Trust about your letter. 

From the Hindi original: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


327. LETTER TO RAJA OF AUNDH 

New Delhi, 

January 4, 1948 

RAJA SAHEB^, 

I have your letter You are doing good work. May God 
grant you success. 

Tours, 

M. K. Gandhi 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


328. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

January 4, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

1 have been a little late today because it had been raining 
and I was told that I should be in no hurry for I might not 
find many people here. But I said that no matter how small 
the audience, it was my duty to be present. There was also 
some other business to attend to and this took a few minutes. 
I thank you for having come in spite of the rain and it gives 
me much satisfaction that there are so many of you. It shows 
that you are keen on the prayer. If you have come merely out 
of curiosity then it has no value. 

* The addressee was the first to introduce full responsible government in 
the State in 1939. Aundh was one of the eight States which made up the 
United Deccan State formed on December 20, 1947, at Miraj. 

2 For details, vide p. 374. 



356 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


Today there is talk of war everywhere. Everyone fears a 
war breaking out between the two countries. If that happens it 
will be a calamity both for India and for Pakistan. India has 
written to the U. N. because whenever there is a fear of con- 
flict anywhere the U. N. is asked to promote a settlement and 
to stop fighting from breaking out. India therefore wrote to 
the U. N. O. However trivial the issue may appear to be, it 
could lead to a war between the two countries. It is a long 
memorandum and it has been cabled.^ Pakistan’s Zafarullah 
Khan^ and Liaquat Ali Khan^ have since issued long statements. 
I would take leave to say that their argument does not appeal 
to me. You may ask if I approve of the Union Government 
approaching the U. N. O. I may say that I both approve and do 
not approve of what they did. I approve of it, because after all 
what else are they to do? They are convinced that what they 
are doing is right. If there are raids from outside the frontier 
of Kashmir, the obvious conclusion is that it must be with the 
connivance of Pakistan. Pakistan can deny it. But the denial 
does not settle the matter. Kashmir has acceded to India. 
And India has accepted the accession upon certain conditions. 
If Pakistan harasses Kashmir and if Sheikh Abdullah who is the 
leader of Kashmir asks the Indian Union for help, the latter is 
bound to send help. Such help therefore was sent to Kashmir. 
At the same time Pakistan is being requested to get out of 
Kashmir and to arrive at a settlement with India over the 
question through bilateral negotiations. If no settlement can be 

' On January 1, 1948, the Government of India submitted a formal 
complaint to the Security Council. Vide Appendix IV. 

^ At a Press conference at Karachi, on January 1, Mohammad Zafarullah 
Khan, Pakistan Foreign Minister, denying Pakistan’s complicity in the attack on 
Kashmir had stated: “Kashmir on all sides was surrounded by predominantly 
Muslim areas and realizing that something was to be done to help the Kashmir 
Muslims in their plight, individual Muslims from the surrounding areas did 
whatever they could to bring help. ” 

^ Denying the charges of aggression and looting, the Prime Minister of 
Pakistan had, among other things, stated on January 3: “There are some who 

are helping the forces of the Azad Kashmir Government, who have come from 
tribal areas because of the reports ... of the general massacre of Muslims that 
had been going on in Kashmir by armed bands of Hindus, Sikhs and troops 
of the Maharaja.” He claimed that “the conspiracy and plans for the 
occupation of Kashmir by Indian troops were laid well in advance and the 
excuse that India sent her troops because of the so-called invaders having 
entered Kashmir territory, was only intended to deceive the world.” He 
further said that “we made it clear that we had no control over the forces of 
the Provisional Government of Kashmir or the tribesmen, engaged in fight.” 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


357 


reached in this way then a war is inevitable. It is to avoid the 
possibility of war that the Union Government has taken the step 
it did. Whether they are right in doing so or not God alone knows. 

Whatever might have been the attitude of Pakistan, if I 
had my way I would have invited Pakistan’s representatives to 
India and we could have met, discussed the matter and worked 
out some settlement. They keep saying that they want an 
amicable settlement but they do nothing to create the conditions 
for such a settlement. I shall therefore humbly say to the 
responsible leaders of Pakistan that though we are now two 
countries — which is a thing I never wanted — we should at least 
try to arrive at an agreement so that we could live as peace- 
ful neighbours. Let us grant for the sake of argument that all 
Indians are bad, but Pakistan at least is a new-born nation 
which has moreover come into being in the name of religion 
and it should at least keep itself clean. But they themselves 
make no such claim. It is not their argument that Muslims 
have committed no atrocities in Pakistan. I shall therefore sug- 
gest that it is now their duty, as far as possible, to arrive at 
an amicable understanding with India and live in harmony 
with her. Mistakes were made on both sides. Of this I have 
no doubt. But this does not mean that we should persist in 
those mistakes, for then in the end we shall only destroy our- 
selves in a war and the whole of the sub-continent will pass into 
the hands of some third power. That will be the worst ima- 
ginable fate for us. I shudder to think of it. Therefore the two 
Dominions should come together with God as witness and find 
a settlement. The matter is now before the U. N. O. It cannot 
be withdrawn from there. But if India and Pakistan come to a 
settlement the big powers in the U. N. O. will have to endorse 
that settlement. They will not object to the settlement. They 
themselves can only say that they will do their best to see that 
the two countries arrive at an understanding through mutual 
discussions. Let us pray to God that He may spare us the 
threatened strife, but not at any price. All that we may pray 
to God is to grant that we may either learn to live in amity 
with each other or if we must fight to let us fight to the very 
end. That may be folly, but sooner or later it will purify us. 

Now a few words about Delhi. I came to know of the incidents 
which took place last evening through Brijkishan. I had gone 
to the Camp^ for the evening prayer. I came away after the 


* Wavell Canteen Refugee Camp 



358 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


prayer but he had stayed over to talk to the people in the Camp. 
There are some Muslim houses at a little distance from the 
Camp. About four or five hundred inmates of the Camp — 
mostly women and children but also some men — issued out of the 
Camp to take possession of the houses. I am told they did not 
indulge in any kind of violence. Some of the houses were va- 
cant. Some were occupied by the owners. They tried to take 
possession even of the latter. The police were near at hand. 
They immediately went to the spot and brought the situation 
under control at about 9 O’clock according to the newspapers 
but about 11 O’clock according to the information I have. The 
police have stayed on there. I understand they had to use tear 
gas. Tear gas does not kill but it can be pretty painful. I am 
told that something has happened today again. 

All I can say is that it is a matter of great shame for us. 
Have not the refugees learnt even from their immense suffering 
that they have to exercise some restraint? It is highly improper 
to go and occupy other people’s houses. It is for the Govern- 
ment to find them shelter or whatever else they need. Today 
the Government is our own. But if we defy our own Govern- 
ment and defy the police and forcibly occupy houses the Gov- 
ernment is not likely to continue for long. It is still worse that 
such things should happen in the capital city of India where 
there are so many ambassadors from all over the world. Do 
we want to show them the spectacle of people occupying what- 
ever they can? It is all the more regrettable that women and 
children were used as a shield. It is inhuman. It is like 
Muslim rulers keeping a herd of cows in the vanguard of their 
armies to make sure that the Hindus would not fight. It is 
uncivilized, barbaric behaviour. It is still more barbaric to 
put women and children in front to provide against the police 
making a lathi charge. It is abuse of womanhood. I must 
humbly ask all the refugees — women and children — not to behave 
in this way. Let them settle down. If they don’t, then apart from 
a war between India and Pakistan, we may kill ourselves in 
mutual strife. We may lose Delhi and make ourselves the 
laughing-stock of the world. If we want to keep India a free 
country, we must stop the things that are at present going on. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy : All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 263-7 



329. LETTER TO R. R. DIWAKAR 


\January 4\5, 1 948~\ * 

BHAI DIWAKAR^, 

I wrote something about what you had written [to me]. 
Why is it not possible to follow my suggestion? Such things do 
hold up the work. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


330. LETTER TO MAHMUD 

[January 4j5, 1948] 

BHAI MAHMUD, 

What is this? 

Do return to me the certificate I had given for that per- 
son, if you have not already torn it up. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


* In the source this and the following two letters are placed between 
those of January 4 and 5, 1948. 

^ The addressee was a member of the Congress Constitution Committee 
appointed by the A. I. C. C. for revising the constitution of the Congress. Vide 
Appendix I (7). 


359 



331. LETTER TO RAMESHCHANDRA 


YJanmry 4j5, 1948] 

BHAI RAMESHCHANDRA, 

I am sorry that I could not meet you. The answers to 
your questions I am forwarding to Harijan Sevak and you will 
find them there.’ 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


332. LETTER TO JIVANJI D. DESAI 

January 5, 1948 

CHI. JIVANJI, 

What I have sent this time is worth thinking over. The 
Gujarati items need not be translated into English there, nor the 
English into Gujarati or Hindustani. Some of the Hindustani 
items will have to be translated into Gujarati there. We try to 
send reports of my daily speeches in Hindustani, in such lan- 
guage as I actually use but with some revisions, and it is not, 
therefore, necessary to translate the speeches from English into 
Gujarati. It will do even if you give only summaries from the 
Hindustani reports. This will mean that the editions of Hari- 
jan in all the three languages will be self-contained and inde- 
pendent of one another. It remains to be seen whether we can 
attain this ideal. I cannot say how long I shall be able to cope 
with the work involved. Let us try, however. 

A good many Hindustani articles by Sundarlal have accu- 
mulated. I think it is high time they are taken up. I exact 
pretty hard work from him. His Hindustani seems to be the 
real thing and of excellent quality. It is the speech of ordinary 
people in North India. 


’ Vide pp. 352-3. 


360 



LETTER TO NRISIMHAPRASAD K. BHATT 361 

Please let me know if you have any comments to make on this. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

. . 

Will it be all right if I send the final instalment on Wed- 
nesday ? 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 9991 


333. LETTER TO VIJATA M. PANCHOLI 

New Delhi, 

January 5, 1948 

CHI. vijaya', 

Are both of you all right? If the mind is cheerful there 
is no danger of the body getting ill. 

It is now time for the prayer and, therefore, I must stop here. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 7153. Also C. W. 4645. Courtesy: 
Vijaya M. Pancholi 


334. LETTER TO NRISIMHAPRASAD K. BHATT 

New Delhi, 

January 5, 1948 

CHI. NANABHAI, 

I got today your letter dated the 1st. Your birthday falls 
on the 7th. Now tell me how my blessings in writing can 
reach you [in time]. Even a telegram may not. These days a 
telegram takes four days. You of course have my blessings in 
spirit, because it is my own work that you are doing. And my 
blessings are always with any work that is mine. 

You will certainly come personally when you can. 

How is your health these days? 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


Wife of Manubhai Pancholi 



335. NOTE TO MUSLIMS^ 


New Delhi, 

January 5, 1948 

It would be more helpful if you could supply some proof 
in its support. Moreover I have been receiving complaints that 
Muslims too have arms in plenty in their possession. Therefore, 
first you should persuade the Muslim brothers and get the arms 
from them and hand them over to me. And then if the Gov- 
ernment fails to provide protection to them I will die first, be- 
fore letting them die. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 323 


336. NOTE TO SUBHADRA GUPTA^ 

New Delhi, 

January 5, 1948 

If a girl like you had not come to me with such a complaint 
and instead if I were to hear that Subhadra had been killed, 
while trying to save Muslims from Hindus, I would dance for 
joy. I feel that only when Hindu men and women thus bravely 
sacrifice their lives will this conflict end. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 233 


* Who had come with the complaint that Hindus harassed Muslims 
living in Hindu localities and that they were armed as well 

^ The addressee had mentioned the harassment of the Muslims at the 
hands of Hindus. 

362 



337. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING^ 


New Delhi, 

January 5, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I am being flooded with letters and telegrams congratu- 
lating me on the lifting of controls on most things and pleading 
that the controls which still remain should be lifted. I give 
below the substance of an English letter, written by a successful 
businessman. The letter says: 

As desired by you I give below the comparative prices of white 
sugar, jaggery, brown sugar and other articles of food before and after 
lifting of controls. 

Current rates Rates in November before 


lifting of controls 


Sugar 

Rs. 

37-8 


a maund 

Rs. 

80 

to 85 

a maund 

Jaggery 

Rs. 

13 to 

15 

5J >5 

Rs. 

30 

to 32 

55 

,, 

Brown Sugar 

Rs. 

14 to 

18 

if ? 5 

Rs. 

37 

to 45 

5 5 

5 5 

Sugar Cubes 


11 As. a 

packet 

Rs. 

1-8 to Rs. 

1-12 a packet 

Sugar deshi 

Rs. 

30 to 

35 

a maund 

Rs. 

78 

to 80 

per 

maund 

It will be noticed that 

prices of sugar have fallen by 50 

p. c. 

Wheat 

Rs. 

18 to 20 

a maund 

Rs. 

40 

to 50 

a maund 

Rice Basmati Rs. 

25 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

40 

to 45 

5 5 

5 5 

Maize 

Rs. 

15 to 

17 

5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

30 

to 35 

5 5 

5 5 

Gram 

Rs. 

16 to 

18 

5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

38 

to 40 

55 

5 5 

Mung 

Rs. 

23 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

35 

to 38 

5 5 

5 5 

Urad 

Rs. 

23 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

34 

to 37 

5 5 

5 5 

Arhar 

Rs. 

22 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

32 


5 5 

5 5 

Pulses : 










Gram 

Rs. 

20 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

30 


5 5 

5 5 

Mung 

Rs. 

26 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

39 


5 5 

5 5 

Urad 

Rs. 

26 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

37 


5 5 

5 5 

Arhar 

Rs. 

22 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

32 


5 5 

55 

Oil : 










Mustard 

Rs. 

65 


5 5 5 5 

Rs. 

75 


5 5 

5 5 


Following lifting of controls the market is inundated with woollen and silken 
textiles. Their prices have fallen by 50 p. c. and at some places by 66 p. c. 

* As Gandhiji was observing silence, this was read out after the prayer. 

363 



364 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


In the expectation that control on cotton textiles will be lifted their prices 
are slowly falling. If the control is lifted then the prices are likely to 
fall by 60 p. c. This will lead to competition among the various mills 
and make cloth more easily available. But if control on cotton textile 
is lifted the export of cloth from India should be banned for at least 
three years. In Government offices they merely play mysterious games 
with the figures of statistics. They should not hinder the implementation 
of decontrol. Presumably petrol was controlled on account of the 
exigencies of war and can now be decontrolled. The truth is that 
control on petrol has benefited only a few transport companies which 
have now a vested interest in keeping the control. It does not benefit 
the masses. It need hardly be pointed out that a single bus or truck 
which has a permit to ply on one particular stretch of road will be 
able to make Rs. 15,000 a month. If the control on petrol is lifted one 
cannot earn more than Rs. 300 a month out of one vehicle. Today 
petrol permits are freely being sold. A petrol permit for one lorry can 
easily be sold to a transport magnate for as much as Rs. 10,000. If 
control is lifted the various problems before the country such as food, 
housing and so on will be solved by themselves. Please try to have 
the control on petrol lifted and help the masses who are suffering on 
account of control. A free India should have no use for controls. 

It seems to me that there is not much one can say when 
faced with these figures. Maybe I am ignorant, those with more 
knowledge should correct me.’ When people by and large want 
a thing there is no room left for any hesitation in a democracy. 

It is said that India consumes merely one per cent of the 
amount of petrol produced in the world. There is no cause 
for despair in this. After all our road transport does go on. But 
does it mean that because we are not a warlike people we do not 
need more petrol? Or if we need more, will there be shortage 
for the rest of the world? Let not the learned laugh at my 
ignorance. I seek light. If I hide the darkness I cannot get 
light. The question is: If so little petrol falls to our share, how 
is it that huge stocks of petrol are available in the black market? 

If the situation described by the correspondent really pre- 
vails it is shocking. It means that controls are a boon to the 
rich and a bane for the poor. And yet it is in the name of the 
poor that the controls are imposed. If that is how monopoly 

’ Commenting on this, A. D. Gorawala, former President of Commodities 
Prices Board, said in Bombay that the prices quoted before decontrol were black- 
market prices and that “reports from various areas of Bombay showed that 
after decontrol prices had risen from 50 to 100 per cent above the controlled 
rates” for wheat and sugar. 



KHADI CAN REMOVE CLOTH SHORTAGE 365 

functions it should be done away with without a moment’s 
thought. 

As for cloth, if we have not forgotten khadi which has been 
described as “the livery of freedom”’ there is no possible argu- 
ment for continuing the control over it. We have enough cotton 
and we have innumerable hands which can work the looms and 
the wheels in the villages. We can thus produce without diffi- 
culty enough cloth for ourselves. It needs neither the noise of 
the cities nor motor transport. In former times the railways first 
served the need of the army. Its second task was to carry cotton 
to the ports and carry cloth into the interior from the ports. Now 
our calico is khadi. It is made in villages and is consumed in 
villages. There is therefore no need of centralization here. Let 
us not ruin our villages out of our indolence or our ignorance. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy : All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 267-70 


338. KHADI CAN REMOVE CLOTH SHORTAGE 

A friend writes that khadi can help to remove the short- 
age of cloth in a matter of six months. For this two conditions 
will be necessary, viz., (1) that the Central and Provincial Gov- 
ernments should adopt the policy of encouraging spinning and 
weaving in every village, and (2) that provincial and all-India 
leaders should put forth greater efforts to popularize khadi. 

In my opinion it should be worth while and it is the duty 
of the Congress to fulfil these conditions for the sake of remedy- 
ing cloth shortage. Our undoubted indifference in this respect 
shows that we have failed in our duty. The price of cloth having 
risen so high, the present is the most opportune time to get over 
this indifference. This can be done by the example and conduct 
as well as the wisdom of those who have unshakable faith in 
khadi. When the Government adopts the policy of promoting 
the cause of khadi, control over cloth and other commodities will 
automatically go. Meanwhile also, cloth should be decontrolled 
in the interests of the poor. 

New Delhi, January 6, 1948 
Harijan, 11-1-1948 


’ By Jawaharlal Nehru. Vide Vol. LXV, pp. 446 and 473. 



339. CERTIFIED AND UNCERTIFIED KHADT 


The same friend, who suggests that khadi can remove cloth 
shortage, writes that India having attained independence, there 
is little difference now between certified and uncertified khadi, 
mill-cloth and foreign cloth. Khadi may have significance for 
him who spins and weaves to clothe himself, but people are 
unable to do so or even to spin the minimum quota of yarn 
prescribed for the purchase of khadi from the bhandars. No 
improvement is noticeable in the quality of pure khadi, while 
many useful varieties of uncertified khadi are available. More- 
over, it is difficult nowadays to give what can be termed a 
living wage in the khadi industry. On these grounds the writer 
observes that the purchase of uncertified khadi should be per- 
mitted. He proceeds to argue that having regard to the acute 
shortage of cloth all over the country and to the fact that the 
Union Government itself imports foreign cloth, there should be 
no objection to the purchase of such cloth either. 

That such questions can be raised shows the change in the 
times. My answer is that only “certified khadi” should be used. 
Let me indicate the meaning of this term. Even the Charkha 
Sangh’s definition is incomplete. The term really implies that 
a reasonable wage is given to spinners and weavers and the price 
of khadi fixed with an eye on public good and not with a profit 
motive. Certification of such khadi by the Charkha Sangh 
becomes necessary, as people have as a rule, to fall back upon 
the purchase of khadi in addition to self-made khadi. 

Any other khadi is uncertified and open to objection and should 
not, therefore, be used. It is open to the public to suggest im- 
provements in the conditions presented for the certification of 
khadi, but it would be definitely wrong to abolish the distinction 
between certified and uncertified khadi. 

Again, how can one shut one’s eyes to the distinction be- 
tween khadi, mill-cloth and foreign cloth, or justify the import 
of foreign cloth because foreign rule has ended? We must re- 
member that we opposed foreign rule because it involved the 

^ A Hindi version of this appeared in Harijan Sevak under the date-line 
“New Delhi, 5-1-1948”. 

366 



HARIJANS IN HOSTELS 367 

economic ruin of the country. The first fruit of freedom should, 
therefore, be to put an end to this curse. 

In fine it follows that pure khadi alone has place in swaraj: 
in it lies the well-being of the people as well as true equality. 

New Delhi, January 6, 1948 
Harijan, 11-1-1948 

340. HARIJANS IN HOSTELS^^ 

Apropos the recent legislation enacted by the Government 
of Bombay extending to the Harijans the right of admission to 
temples, wells, dharmashalas, schools, hostels, etc., Shri Parikshit- 
lal writes that though this automatically covers undenominational 
hostels as well, school and college hostels have not in actual 
practice been thrown open to the Harijan students. His experi- 
ence has been that the school and college authorities have not 
adapted themselves to the spirit of the times to the extent the 
hostel students have. As the academic year will soon be over 
and fresh admissions will be made shortly, he has advised the 
authorities to do the needful before the Harijan students are 
forced to assert their legal right in the matter and has also sug- 
gested to me to recommend the throwing open of the hostels in 
Bhavnagar and other Kathiawar States to the Harijan students. 

I endorse his suggestion and would add that if the stu- 
dents in the hostels are sincere, they are sure to succeed in the 
matter. In the present age the autocratic will of the managing 
committees cannot prevail, particularly when, as in this case, 
they are in the wrong and the students are in the right. Be 
that as it may, the Harijan students should unquestionably be 
admitted to hostels with honour. 

New Delhi, January 6, 1948 
Harijan, 11-1-1948 


* A Gujarati version of this appeared in Harijanbandhu, 11-1-1948 under 
the date-line “New Delhi, 4-1-1948”. 



341. LETTER TO SITA GANDHI 


4.30 a. m., January 6, 1948 

CHI. SITA, 

I have your letter. The previous one was long and I could 
not cope with it. I am writing this immediately after prayers. 

It is good that you have decided to go to Phoenix. When 
you go there you will be able to form your own ideas. Your 
dream of helping Manilal will also materialize to some extent. 
Who knows what is in store? 

It is good news that Vasant and the baby boy are well. 
Nowadays they look for names from novels or from the Sanskrit 
plays. I would know nothing about it. What is in a name? 
It seldom happens that a person comes to have qualities worthy 
of his name. As the poet says, “Fondly was the infant given 
the name of Hari but in infancy did it die.” 

Pass on the accompanying [letters]. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


342. LETTER TO SUSHILA GANDHI 

New Delhi, 

4.30 a. m., January 6, 1948 

CHI. SUSHILA, 

I have had two letters from you, one of which is lying in the 
heap. The one to which I am replying was received yesterday. 

I am glad that Sita is going there. I should not be glad 
but there is a reason for it. 

Your duty seems clear. You must give all possible help to 
Manilal in his work, forgetting everything else. Ordinarily I 
would not give such advice, but in this case I have reason for 
doing so. Since Manilal is engaged in public service, I feel that 
it would be a great thing if you could identify yourself with him. 
The statement that ordinarily I would not give such advice refers 
to cases in which the husband tries to tempt his wife to pleasure. 

368 



LETTER TO MANILAL GANDHI 


369 


I should like you to retain only one attachment, giving up all 
others, and I have explained to you what that is. I am not 
asking you to look after the children carefully because they are 
yours, but since they are under your charge you ought to protect 
them. That would have been your duty even if they had not 
been your own children. I have tried to follow this rule from a 
very young age. Manilal knows about it. For you service of the 
country will be where Manilal lives. 

You may do whatever you can to help the struggle there 
without getting involved in it. 

I am glad that you have succeeded in persuading Manilal to 
take milk and curds. He must be free from all disease. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 


From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5021 


343. LETTER TO MANILAL GANDHI 

New Delhi, 
5 a.m., January 6, 1948 

CHI. MANILAL, 

I could get no time at all before now to write to you. I 
got the mail yesterday and so am writing this letter. 

I am forced to the conclusion that your health has suffered 
because of lack of curds and milk in your diet. In the wide 
vegetable kingdom nothing has been discovered so far which can 
serve as a substitute for milk. As long as one keeps fit, one does 
not feel the need for animal foods, but once the health goes down 
it cannot be rebuilt without such foods. 

Now that Sita is going there, you will get all the help you 
need. I agree that her studies will suffer there. But she will cer- 
tainly learn what I believe she ought to learn, namely, whatever 
she can while helping her parents in their work under their own 
guidance. This is real economics. I have no time just now to 
explain why. Probably you don’t even need an explanation. 

Do what you can in connection with the struggle there which 
is going to be a difficult one. 

I have so far maintained my health in spite of the great 
pressure of work. God will do as He wills. Sushila^ was to 

’ Dr. Sushila Nayyar 

90-24 



370 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


proceed to America in a few days for further experience. But 
now those people have on their own put off the visit. Let us see 
what happens. According to me, what we cannot get in our own 
country will be of no use to us. But I am not able to convince 
anybody about this. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 5020 


344. LETTER TO ILA GANDHI 

5.15 a.m., January 6, 1948 

CHI. ILA^, 

I suppose you are too busy to spare time to write to me. 

Do you still talk a lot? How nice it would be if you took 
a vow of silence! 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 5019 


345. LETTER TO ARUN GANDHI 

5.30 a. m., January 6, 1948 

CHI. ARUN^, 

Yes, I think I did get a note from you. 

Build up fine health. Your real education will be what you 
learn from Manilal. To which school do you go? Do not for- 
get your Gujarati. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 5018 


^ ^ Daughter and son of Manilal Gandhi 



346. LETTER TO ANAND T. HINGORANI 


New Delhi, 
January 6, 1948 

CHI. ANAND, 

I have your letter. 

Losing money means being freed of a curse, as the poet sings 
in the following bkajan: 

He who has by good fortune found Rama 
is blessed with three things: 

First, he loses kine, kin, wife, 
his wraps and shawls, 
his elephants and horses 
and is made destitute of all resources. 

Second, he is humiliated by the world, 
and loses all respect, 

he counts for nothing among his kinsmen 
and has no friend left. 

Third, he suffers bodily affliction. 

Day and night he is sickly. 

His eyes cannot glimpse happiness. 

His life is spent in pain. 

In three ways thus he is a pauper. 

But he thinks only of Him, 

And is ever alight with the knowledge. 

That all things are yoked to the Nameless God. 

He who does not know these three things, 
has really attained nothing. 

It is only after suffering many a birth and old age. 
That Tukdo has attained to that state. 

Why grieve that you cannot hear? The advantages are clear. 
You have seen my three preceptors — the three monkeys I keep 
before me. One of them has his hands over his ears. What more 
shall I say? 

Your handwriting is good. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 


From a microfilm of the Hindi, 
and Anand T. Hingorani 


Courtesy: National Archives of India 


371 



347. LETTER TO MAHADEV A. HINGORANI 


New Delhi, 

January 6, 1948 

CHI. MAHADEV^, 

I was glad to have your letter. To me you were only born 
yesterday. It does not even occur to me that fifteen years have 
passed since. Why do you want to meet me? We all meet in 
thought, indeed. Live long and serve for a long time. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a microfilm of the Hindi. Courtesy: National Archives of India 
and Anand T. Hingorani 


348. LETTER TO GANGI A. HINGORANI 

New Delhi, 

January 6, 1948 

CHI. GANGI, 

I have your letter and Anand’s also. What do you want 
to do living alone with me? You must understand that your 
duty is to live with Anand and living with him to do what service 
you can. 

It cannot be said that you are fully recovered. Get well soon. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a microfilm of the Hindi. Courtesy: National Archives of India and 
Anand T. Hingorani 


' Son of Anand T. Hingorani by his first wife, Vidya 


372 



349. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

January 6, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I hear that even today people have been trying to get into 
the Muslim houses. The police have been doing their duty and 
trying to stop them. After all what can the police do? They can 
only resort to tear gas. I am told that that was what they did. 
There is plenty of room here. One cannot say that Delhi lacks 
space. There is no doubt that refugees are in a bad plight. It is 
not right that they should have to live under the open sky. When 
it rains it is not enough that they should have only a cloth 
between them and the sky. Therefore, in distress they resort to 
anything. But it does not seem right that they should single out 
only Muslim houses. I told one of them that this was a pretty 
big house, a large number of men could be accommodated here. 
They could throw me out and also throw out the ailing woman 
with me and afterwards the owner. He said that it was easy 
for me to find accommodation but who would give the refugees 
any accommodation ? I would understand what they are doing if 
every other recourse had failed and if the people of Delhi had 
also failed them. But it is not good — it will do us no good to 
occupy the houses of those we have scared away or driven out. 

The police today offered the refugees a few houses which they 
refused. Let them say clearly that they do not want any Mus- 
lims here. It would not be decent but at least it would have the 
virtue of being a straightforward course. They may say that 
since the Muslims have killed Hindus in Pakistan they shall kill 
the Muslims in India or that they do not trust them. But what 
is happening today is sheer madness. 

Our present misfortune is that people unthinkingly indulge 
in meaningless rowdyism. The mentality seems to be that now 
that we are a free country we can do what we like. A report 
from Bombay says that the Government there is in a great 
difficulty. Dock workers have gone on a strike.* Such strikes are 

* The workers of the engineering department of the Bombay Port Trust 
were demanding speedy implementation of the Pay Commission’s recommen- 
dations. 


373 



374 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


going to be our undoing, to say nothing of the fact that they can 
bring no benefit to the workers whichever the party behind the 
strike may be, Congress or Socialist or Communist or any other. 
Our country today is passing through a critical phase. Our effort 
should be to tide over the present situation and survive. 

I have a letter from the Maharaja of Aundh, a small State in 
Maharashtra.’ He had even when the British rule was still strong 
in India handed over the reins of the government to the people 
of his State. He and his son felt that they should serve the people. 
They devised a constitution, had a body elected and made it 
responsible for the administration. The Maharaja writes that the 
feeling among the other Rulers is that whatever he may do he 
should only do along with the other Rulers and that he should 
not act all by himself. He has almost decided to merge his 
State with India but he still continues to be the Raja, though 
only as a servant of his people. He will accept whatever is 
sanctioned to him by his people. Sardar Saheb feels that the 
Rulers should be given pensions, unconditionally, whether they 
functioned as such or not. He has started the process with 
Orissa.2 I do not consider it right that the Maharaja of Aundh 
should be pensioned off. Only he should not interfere in the 
administration because the State now has responsible Govern- 
ment. But he has been told that the nature of administration in 
his State cannot be different from what it is in other States that 
have merged with India. It cannot have separate laws. But I 
say there is no need for any laws. When the power has been 
handed over to the people it does not mean that the adminis- 
tration should be conducted from Delhi. If there is a represen- 
tative government it will have villagers on it. Such a body 
should run the administration. There should be no need to 
interfere with its work. Nor can any law be made for inter- 
fering with it. Otherwise it would not be popular rule. Popu- 
lar rule cannot be established by the sword. 

A friend writes that only a happy country can be said to 
have Ramarajya, that we may import goods from outside, but 
only as much as we can export, so that the trade is balanced. 
He says this has not been the case with us. We have always 
been debtors. Lately we have become creditors. But how long 
can we remain creditors if we keep up the present rate of 


’ Vide p. 355. 

^ The administration of the 25 Orissa States was taken over by the Govern- 
ment of India on January 1 and they were merged with the Orissa Province. 



A LETTER 


375 


spending? What we should do is to have the very minimum 
of imports and the very maximum of exports. Only then can we 
have a surplus of foreign exchange. 

The fact is that what we import from outside is only our 
raw material converted into consumer goods. Our aim should 
be that we should have no need for importing anything or if we 
import anything it should only be to help other countries. If 
some country needs money and asks us for it we should be able 
to send the money. The correspondent is right in saying that 
so far America alone is such a country. We do not want to be 
like America but at least we can reduce our imports to match 
our exports. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 271-4 

350. A LETTER 

January 7, 1948 

The news from Sind causes anxiety.^ I of course want to go 
to Sind but with what face can I go? To try to quench the 
flames elsewhere while one’s own house is burning will only 
make the flames rage more furiously. The better course would 
be to try and extinguish the fire at home. If one succeeds in 
that it will also help elsewhere. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 244 


* On January 6, 184 Sikh refugees from upper Sind had arrived in 
Karachi in the morning by train. While proceeding in open carriages to the 
Gurdwara at Ratan Talao, they were followed by a Muslim mob and stoned 
all the way. Nearly 8,000 Muslims surrounded the Gurdwara, scaled its walls 
and pounced upon the refugees. The trouble spread through the city and 
nearly 2,000 shops and tenements, mostly belonging to Hindus, were broken 
open and property worth one crore was looted. Over 120 Hindus and Sikhs 
were reported to have been killed. 

The authorities, unable to control the situation, called in the troops at 
2 p. m. and a curfew was imposed. 



351. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

January 7, 1948 

To entertain enmity against the shark while living in the sea 
is not bravery but only folly. Therefore, if you are unable to 
abide by the rules of the Ashram, you can by all means stay 
outside and carry on various activities of public service. I have 
no time to write more. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^II, p. 244 


352. FRAGMENT OF A LETTERS 

January 7, 1948 

. . . Had to go without sleep today. For a while attended to 
Manu and looked through the post. The pressure of work here 
is so great that I can cope with the post to some extent only if 
I attend to it early in the morning immediately after the prayer. 
Afterwards the rush of visitors begins. I must achieve something or 
die in the attempt. I cannot say what will happen. I seek light. 
I can glimpse some rays in the darkness. Only when I attain 
enlightenment in full, shall heart-unity in Delhi be enduring. 

Well, I have managed to write this with great difficulty. 
How are you all? How is your health? You must keep writing 
to Manu. She will write the rest. I have not succeeded in 
bringing her back to health. She wrecked her body in serving me 
in Noakhali. If she can regain her strength I shall be immensely 
relieved. If she could follow my advice and give herself rest 
for a couple of months and be cheerful, I would see about the 
outward treatment. Today this is not possible. I cannot give 
her my full attention. If I can bring matters here to some con- 
clusion, my next task will be to make Manu strong as a wrestler. 
Or else she may well die. . . . This of course I write in jest. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — ^II, pp. 244-5 

’ Omissions in the letter are as in the source. 


376 



353. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 


January 7, 1 948 

I am hoping that we shall be able to achieve something 
here in a few days. Right now there is a conflagration raging 
here. Today we have forgotten our humanity. God will show 
the path He wills us to take. We must not give up the effort. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 244 


354. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

New Delhi, 

January 7, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

I have here several notes and I shall try to deal with as 
many as I can within 15 minutes. 

A friend writes that he has gone on an indefinite fast. All 
that I can say is that it is not right for him to fast. To resort 
to a fast thus is a sin. While I am alive I should be consulted 
because I have much experience of fasting. I shall not go into 
the matter further. 

I am told that students are about to go on a strike. The 

date set is the 9 th. I must say that it will be a wrong step. 

As I pointed out yesterday, to resort to strikes to gain one’s end 
is not a good thing. I have no doubt in my mind that it is not 
non-violence. I have conducted many non-violent strikes. It 
cannot be said that every strike is non-violent and every strike is 
legitimate. Students should confine themselves to studies and keep 
away from strikes. I hope they will listen to me. I may again 
mention that I have had a long experience spanning some fifty 
years of non-violent strikes. I carried it on successfully not in 
India but in South Africa. I do not remember any instance when 
it failed me in anything I had undertaken. It cannot fail. 

If your cause is just and if what you are doing is the only 

course open to you, you are bound to succeed. 

Today I received visitors from the Punjab, Sind, the Frontier 
Province and other places — all in Pakistan. They described to 

377 



378 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


me their sufferings and asked me why I was not doing anything 
in the matter. How can they know all that I am trying to do? 
The only reason I am staying on here is that I may be able to 
get something done somehow for these people. Today I have 
become weak. Time was when what I said went home. Today 
it is not the case. Then I was the General of non-violence. 
Now that time is past. Today mine is a cry in the wilderness. 
But even if I am alone I must say what is right. People say 
that the Government is manned by persons who are my co- 
workers and that they will do whatever I say. It is true that they 
are my co-workers, but why should they do whatever I say? 
They will only do what seems right to them. I can plead with 
them and argue with them. If they see the point, well and good; 
if not, I am helpless. They might tell me that running a govern- 
ment is full of complications and difficulties, and that if I were 
in the Government I would find out that I could not do as I 
pleased. If the Ministers who are my friends, their secretaries and 
the police, for I am no one’s enemy, were all to go by what I said 
all would be well. The Government can always say that they 
have not the right type of officials and staff. They are the same 
people who were there during the British rule. They cannot 
be turned out either. Whatever the reasons, I cannot make the 
Government today do all that I want. I am as helpless as any 
one of you. I am not God. I do only what my strength permits. 

But what are the people to do? They have to have shelter, 
clothing and food. When I myself have all those things, why 
should anyone be deprived of them? After all they have not 
committed any crime like assault or murder. They have been 
hounded out from their homes. They are our brothers and sis- 
ters. They have been subjected to indignities and injustice and 
if even on coming here they cannot live in peace they have the 
right to turn round and demand why they should be deprived 
of the necessities of life when they are freely available to others. 
I admit this is unjust. But I have told them what they can do. 
The way is not for them to get into anyone’s house and occupy 
it. Their attack should be non-violent. I have also told them 
which houses are thus to be attacked. 

They must also agree to do any kind of work assigned to 
them to the extent that they can. For instance you may not 
assign writing work to a man who cannot write. But if you give 
a pickaxe to a man he should not say that he can only wield 
a pen. Similarly they should live in any shelter that is given 
to them, be it a tent or a room. All that is necessary is that 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


379 


there should be a roof overhead and it should not matter if it is 
only a thatched roof. Similarly they do not need any cots. 
One can sleep on straw very comfortably. I know from experi- 
ence that straw can be as warm as any cotton mattress. Let us 
accept as a blessing from God anything we can get. If people can 
learn contentment the few lakhs of refugees can be made reason- 
ably happy. There is plenty of room here. Only their hearts 
should be clean. Unfortunately the case is the very reverse. 

You saw what has happened in Karachi.' People used to 
say that such things could not happen in Sind. I always said 
that Hindus could not live in peace in Sind. And not only 
Hindus, even others. That was proved yesterday. They had 

assembled in a Gurdwara awaiting evacuation. The Gur- 

dwara was attacked. A few were killed, some were injured. The 
Government says that the situation was brought under control 
as soon as possible. But in the first place such a thing should 
not have happened at all. I must tell the Pakistan Government 
to see that such things do not happen or else they should quit 
the Government. Maybe if there is no government there will 

be plunder and looting for a few days. But later the situa- 

tion will improve. I have the same thing to say to the Govern- 
ment in India. I shall not listen to the Government saying 
that people cannot be persuaded. If the people cannot be 
persuaded they must give up the pretext of governing. Both 
the Governments are the same in my eyes. If the Pakistan 
Government allows the people to be murdered in this way, the 
Government will not last long. To you, brothers, I shall only 
say, do not let yourselves become mad. You must swallow your 
anger. You must not answer anger with anger and say, ‘We 
will destroy the mosques, occupy them and kill the Muslims.’ 
This will not be just. Such personal vengeance will put an end 
to the rule of law. Certainly we should provide all reasonable 
facilities to the refugees. It will be shameful if we do not. 
We should not be afraid or upset or angry over what has 
happened in Karachi. In return we on our part should live 
peacefully. If we can conduct ourselves decently, if we let the 
Muslims stay on, and if the refugees behave with civility, we 
shall soon overcome the present painful situation. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 275-9 


* Vide footnote to “A Letter”, p. 375. 



355. LETTER TO SHANTA NERULKAR 


5.45 a. m., January 8, 1948 

CHI. SHANTA^, 

I have your letter and also the list sent by you. 

I have signed the budget. 

I would like the Talimi Sangh to take over everything.^ It 
will be a test for you all. If you do not master the art of taking 
work from other institutions it will be the end of all work. If 
you are complacent and depend on my help you are likely to 
repent it. How long can I live? If you have the grace of God 
you have everything. And I have already defined the condition 
for obtaining that grace. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


356. LETTER TO E. W. ARTANATAKUM 

5.50 a. m., January 8, 1948 

CHI. ARYAM, 

I have your two letters. You should find some time and 
improve your Hindustani and both the scripts. If Asha is not 
there you should take the help of others who know Hindustani. 
Why not Meetu’s^ help? 

I would like the Talimi Sangh to take up the work of the 
K. G. N. M. Trust as well. It may be said that I am running 
a risk here. It is for you, it is your duty, to see whether you 
can shoulder all the responsibility. The co-operation of all the 
institutions and people depends upon your tact and friendliness. 
I can but obtain it for you; it is for you to carry it through 
and to develop it. Do you understand what I am saying? 


* Member, Hindustani Talimi Sangh 

2 The reference is to the unification and co-ordination of the four Sanghs 
as suggested by Gandhiji. Vide pp. 222-3. 

^ Addressee’s daughter 


380 



LETTER TO KRISHNADAS GANDHI 381 

Ask me if you don’t. You could even have written to me in 
Bengali. 

I understand what you say about Ramachandran. I am 
writing to him.' 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


357. LETTER TO AMINA G. QURESHI 

January 8, 1948 

CHI. AMINA, 

I find your letter very sweet. I think it was no less than 
your good luck that you could serve Totaram^. You are abso- 
lutely right that after the late Imam Saheb he was the lone 
elder in the Ashram. Parikshitbhai had sent me a telegram. 
Wahid^ has indeed risen high. If he works hard he is sure to 
forge ahead as you say. Take care of your health. If you make 
the proper changes in your diet you will get rid of the redun- 
dant fat. Which college does Hamid'* go to? What is Sultana^ 
doing ? 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


358. LETTER TO KRISHNADAS GANDHI 

January 8, 1948 

CHI. KRISHNADAS®, 

It is quite correct that you should write in Hindustani. I 
am, however, replying in Gujarati. 

I am very glad that Manojna’' co-operates with you. Seek 
more help from her if you can. She can speedily improve her 
knowledge of Hindustani and of the two scripts. Then why can’t 


' The letter is not traceable. 

^ Totaram Sanadhya; vide pp. 404-5. 

® Addressee’s children 
® Son of Chhaganlal Gandhi 
^ Addressee’s wife 



382 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


we devote our entire attention to it? All our [dealings] needs 
must be in Hindustani, not in Hindi or Urdu. Hence I would 
not regard the expression nirvachit, which has been used in the 
resolution that we have passed, as Hindustani. There must be 
a simpler equivalent for it. If nirvachit means ‘one who has 
been elected’ why can’t we say chuna hua? This is only by way 
of an illustration. Why should the letter-heads be in English 
any more? My point was that it never ought to have been. 
Anyway now we surely cannot have it, so all such letter-heads 
should be utilized in some other way. You can cut off the part 
carrying the print and get a rubber-stamp for the name and 
address, or have them reprinted. A third way is to score out 
the printed portions. But that is a method I myself do not like. 

Why should our constitution be in English? It should be 
in beautiful Hindustani. Even now we should have it rendered 
into Hindustani.' 

Now about Khadi Pratishthan. An ordinary uncertified khadi 
bhandar defies us and carries on its business. It competes 
with us. What Khadi Pratishthan does is not with a view to 
competing with us; rather, whatever policy it adopts should help 
us to learn something. If we look at it from this point of view 
I see a very great difference. Even then we don’t propose to 
act in haste. 

I am forwarding your letter to Hemprabhadevi. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


' A committee was later appointed to translate the Constitution into 
Hindi. It consisted of Ghanshyam Singh Gupta (President), Raghuvira, 
Kamalapati Tripathi and Haribhau Upadhyaya. 



359. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

January 8, 1948 

Kakasaheb has been here for the last two days. It was 
with the greatest difficulty that I could find time to talk to 
him about Hindustani and other things. If he had not himself 
spoken he might have stayed on for weeks and I might not 
have found time to talk to him. Innumerable people — men and 
women — visit me during the day. There is a huge pile of letters 
to be attended to. The work connected with Harijan has to be 
done. There is not a moment to spare. Usually Manu shaves 
me. But today I have taken away this work from her. I am 
lying in the bath, plying the razor and dictating this letter to 
Manu. 

I am not as fit as I should be, which shows weakness of 
my faith in Ramanama. . . .'should go to Rajkot. By staying 
here he will only deceive himself and others. Man is his own 
enemy. No one can be the enemy of another. Similarly, no 
one in the world can harm anyone. 

You should give up the craving to live in the Ashram. I 
have told the few people who are still there to stay there only 
if they can stand on their own feet. 

I had never doubted that the removal of rationing would 
bring the relief it has brought. The Government hesitated be- 
cause they were afraid of hurting the vested interests. But can 
a government be carried on in this way? Nothing is certain 
about me. There is still much fire smouldering here. One can- 
not say when it may not leap into flames. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 250-1 


Omission as in the source 


383 



360. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

January 8, 1948 

I had your letter written in English. First, I must apolo- 
gize for the delay in answering it. I have not a moment’s 
leisure. Even now I am lying in the bath shaving. Usually 
Manu performs this service, but today I am doing it myself 
and I am dictating this to Manu. Such is my plight. 

The Bahawalpur situation has got out of hand.' Who will 
mend matters? I am full of anxiety. Panditji^ comes at least 
once a day. I shall speak to him. My going there will serve 
no purpose. If I can achieve something here it will have an 
impact on the whole of India. Running about from one place 
to another will achieve nothing. I have to do or die here. 
Even if I can die bravely it will do a lot of good. Let us see 
what God wills. We are all in His hands. 

You must not rush here, abandoning the people. Even if 
you die there courageously, it will be well for Bahawalpur. 

[From Hindi] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 251 


361. LETTER TO GOVLND BALLABH PANT 

January 8, 1948 

BHAI GOVIND BALLABH PANT, 

Read the enclosed and do whatever is proper. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


' Vide pp. 288-9. 

^ Jawaharlal Nehru 


384 



362. LETTER TO MANGAL SINGH 

January 8, 1948 

SARDARJI, 

I got your letter written in English. Why did you write in 
English instead of in Hindustani? It appears that you have sent 
copies of the letter to others as well. As I had already replied 
to it, you would not, I suppose, expect another reply from me. 
I am already doing what I can with whatever strength I have. 
I do not hold the reins of the Government. 

Sardar Mangal Singh, ex-m.l.a. (Central) 

Shiromani Akali Dal 
Amritsar 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


363. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

January 8, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

A correspondent refers to what I had said about the Hari- 
jans and drinking.’ As a matter of fact it was not only Hari- 
jans I had mentioned but all others. He asks if only Harijans 
should give up drinking, what about the soldiers and rich 
people? It is a silly question. If the rich do not give up 
drinking, does it mean that others too should not give it up? 
Even if there is no prohibition drinking does not become a vir- 
tue. Does it mean that if others sin we should also sin? Since 
he has asked me I would tell him that all those who drink 
should give up the habit. Since the Harijans and the labour 
class cannot be persuaded the law must persuade them. They 
take to drink because they are deprived of other comforts of 
life. They want to drown their poverty in drink. But what rea- 
son can there be for the rich and the soldiers to drink? It is 
not that all the soldiers drink. Even among the English there 

’ Vide p. 340. 

385 

90-25 



386 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


are many who do not drink. Everyone should give up drinking. 
The law will apply to all. It will not make any exception in 
favour of the rich. 

I shall speak now of the students’ strike. I understand that 
students who are Congress supporters will not join the strike. 
It seems the strike was organized by the Communist students. 
There are all types of students — Communist, Socialist and Cong- 
ress supporters. I am not concerned with that. I am address- 
ing them all. If the Congress students are not taking part in the 
strike they deserve to be complimented. I shall advise all the 
students not to go on strike. It pains me that Communist stu- 
dents are taking this step. Communists are clever people. They 
too want to serve the country. But this is not the way to 
serve the country. And why should the students support any 
particular party? The students form a party themselves. Their 
job is to study not merely for themselves but for the service of 
the country. So long as one is a student one is not a Commu- 
nist, or a Socialist, or a Congressman. One is merely a student 
devoted wholly to studies. Strike for them will be fatal. 

I have a question here. It is a good question. I am 
asked why I who have been advising everyone to give up evil 
things don’t offer the same advice to Pakistan, why I do not go 
there and resort to satyagraha. I have answered the question 
except for the satyagraha part. How can I go to Pakistan so 
long as we are behaving here as they do in Pakistan? I can 
only go to Pakistan after India has cleansed herself. I will do 
or die here. Hindus and Sikhs of Delhi have gone mad. They 
want all the Muslims here to be driven out. A large number 
have already gone. They want the rest also to go. There are 
Sikhs and Hindus in Pakistan who want to come away. But 
what is the use of satyagraha today? There is no satyagraha 
and no ahimsa left now. Everyone has become a votary of vio- 
lence. They want the help of the army and can be happy only 
when they have such help. Today armed force has replaced 
God. Today even our newspapers are spreading filth. If people 
would listen to me, the newspapers would present a very differ- 
ent picture. The correspondent asks: “Since Hindus and Sikhs 

in such large numbers have been thrown out of Pakistan, where 
is the place for the Muslims to live ? And so long as the same 
number of Muslims do not leave India, where is the place for 
the refugees to occupy?” I think that the number of Muslims 
who have already left equals the number of Hindu and Sikh 
refugees from Pakistan. It is madness to demand that the rest 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


387 


of them should also go because attempts are being made to drive 
out from Pakistan the Hindus and Sikhs still left there. We still 
have large numbers of Muslims in India. I am told that the 
meeting called by Maulana Azad in Lucknow was attended by 
70,000 Muslims. It was the largest number of Muslims who 
attended a meeting in recent times. Must we kill all those 
Muslims or send them away to Pakistan, and why? I shall 
never give such shameful advice. There is no bravery in it. 

A number of people from Bahawalpur came to see me to- 
day. A few persons from Mirpur-Kashmir also came. They are 
obviously in great difficulty. While they were still talking Pan- 
ditji dropped in. I asked him to hear what the visitors had to 
say. The representatives of Mirpur had a talk with Panditji 
and I hope something will be done. I do not say that all that 
they want will be done. Although it is not yet a formal war, it 
is something very similar. In the circumstances it will be difficult 
to find a way of bringing over all the people marooned there. 
I am sure the Government will do what it can. But if there 
are still some people left there who cannot be helped, there 
is nothing much we can do about it. We do not have enough 
trains and buses. The Kashmir road is not yet fit for transport- 
ing millions of people. It is too narrow. 

The Bahawalpur refugees told me that the other refugees 
could have their names registered for jobs and send in appli- 
cations, but that all the applications of those coming from Baha- 
walpur were not being entertained. They asked why there 
should be such discrimination. They were very polite and reason- 
able. They said that people coming from the Frontier Province, 
the Punjab and Sind could apply and were eligible for jobs. I 
said this could not be true and if there was such discrimination 
against the refugees from Bahawalpur it must be a mistake. The 
Sardar has said that there would not be any discrimination. 
However, I shall find out. 

[From Hindi] 

Prarthana Pravachan — ^II, pp. 279-83 



364. LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI 


January 9, 1948 

CHI. NARANDAS, 

The Ashram and [I] are sorry for Chi. Navin’. I have to 
be a mute spectator of whatever happens. Everyone follows 
his own nature; how can Navin be an exception? I am totally 
indifferent about this marriage. What could have been your idea 
in writing to me? How can there be any blessings from me? 
I am glad that you undertook the journey. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


365. FRAGMENT OF A LETTER 

January 9, 1948 

Today this capital city is under a kind of siege. Although 
India is free the capital of India is protected by the army and 
the police and I can do nothing but sit here and watch. 
Votaries of non-violence today have had to put their trust in the 
weapons of violence. What a severe test it is going to be for 
us. If this is God’s will, what strange design does it hide? 
But I have to do or die. Those who believe that arms can 
save Delhi are greatly mistaken. Whether it be Delhi or the 
world only one thing can save us and that is heart amity. 

I have no time at all. There is a heap of letters to be 
answered. So only this much for today. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, p. 257 


Son of Vrajlal Gandhi 


388 



366. LETTER TO AMRITA LAL CHATTERJEE 

New Delhi, 

January 9 \^1948Y 

CHI. AMRITA LAL, 

I have your letter. I am glad that you wrote it in Hindu- 
stani in the Bengali script. 

I think Dhiren is committing a mistake. It is a good thing 
that the marriage is still far away. He has a perfect right to 
act as he wants. Blessings are unnecessary when the cause is 
good; they become a curse when the cause is bad. 

I have read your letter about Kanaiyo.^ I am writing to 
him. My thoughts are firm and clear and I am conveying them 
to him. It will be good if you read his letters. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: C. W. 10425. Courtesy: Amrita Lai 
Chatterjee 


367. LETTER TO AMTUSSALAAM 

January 9, 1 948 

DAUGHTER AMTUL SALAAM, 

Your letter is full of anger. Anger seems to be the food on 
which you subsist. My simplest statement seems crooked to you. 
Let it be. Gan one help one’s nature? 

I have never felt that you are a Muslim and I am a Hindu. 
The only feeling I have is that you are A. S. and I am Gandhi. 
Where our atmans are concerned we are one. 

1 hold that it is your duty to go to Borkamta. No other 
question arises if you too believe the same. It is imperative 
that you go to Borkamta soon. In my view you are the moving 
spirit behind whatever has been achieved there. It was and still 

* The source has “1947”, evidentiy a slip, for the addressee’s letter under 
reply was dated December 27, 1947. 

2 Kanu Gandhi and the addressee had expressed their disapproval of 
Gandhiji’s experiment in brahmacharya and Abha Gandhi’s participation in it. 


389 



390 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


is your most significant work. Only you can sustain it. At 
present no one but you can accomplish that work. If you do not 
ask me for money, that too would be in your interest. Nothing 
belongs to me; everything belongs to one or the other trust. 
Wherever you stand you stand in the capacity of my daughter, 
do you not? 

What can be done if you hold a different view despite 
Bari’s and my opinion that you should forget all about Patiala? 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


368. TRIBUTE TO BHAURAO PATH 

New Delhi, 

January 9, 1948 

The services of Shri Bhaurao Patil are in themselves a true 
tribute to him. Yet the activity taken up by the students is 
worthy of praise. May Shri Bhaurao continue for long to render 
service. 

M. K. Gandhi 

G. J. Salunke 

President, Bhaurao Patil Felicitation Fund Committee 
Satara 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


369. TALK WITH SAURASHTRA DELEGATION^ 

Birla House, New Delhi, 

January 9, 1948 

What I want is that you should have Nanabhai as your 
counsellor, even as sage Vashishtha was in Ramarajya. He will not 
shine more by being the Chief Minister. When there is friction 


* Which included Manubhai Pancholi, Balwantrai Mehta, Mohanbhai 
Motichand Gadhadawala and others. They expressed the view that Nrisinha- 
prasad Kalidas Bhatt should be made Chief Minister in the popular government 
at Bhavnagar. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


391 


between the ruler and the subjects he can bring them together. 
He should not transfer his institution' to the city. He should 
continue it in Ambla. I do not feel that Nanabhai will say no. 
He will not fit too well in the seat of power. His place can only 
be in the field of education. If everyone becomes Chief Minis- 
ter, who will make up the subjects? Just as the ministers should 
be educated so also the people should be educated. Only if the 
people are educated will they keep the ministers on their toes. 
Only an educated people can discern the path to freedom. My 
own view is that Balwantrai should be made Chief Minister. He 
served the old Bhavnagar State for many years. The qualities 
that Balwantrai has are not to be found in Nanabhai. And 
Nanabhai’s qualities Balwantrai does not possess. Dhebar alone 
cannot tackle the problems of Kathiawar. If the entire Kathia- 
war has only these two I shall have no worry. We cannot 
burden Dhebar alone with the responsibility of the whole of 
Kathiawar. In the ceremony PattanP should be kept in the 
forefront. This is my considered view. But if you invite him 
only to censure him, then you should not invite him. If we start 
with prejudices of any kind we shall only frustrate our purpose. 
You must learn from him. There will be occasions when the 
State will be able to find a way through difficulties through his 
experience alone. I am giving my opinion unsought. If you do 
not like it you can reject it. You should not think that you 
have to accept it because I say it. If you do anything just to 
please me, it will not please me but it will harm us both. 

[From Gujarati] 

Dilhiman Gandhiji — II, pp. 259-60 


370. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

January 9, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

1 want to say something about a Hindu temple in Bahawal- 
pur. It is still there but is no more in the possession of the 
Hindus. The chief priest of the temple came to see me today. 
His name is Bhagwandas. He saw with his own eyes how the 
temple was attacked and how the Hindus ran for their lives 

' Gram Dakshinamurty 

2 Anantrai Pattani 



392 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


by the backdoor. The chief priest also ran away with them. 
He described to me how he was able to save some women. 
He could not save them all but quite a number were rescued. 
He wants me to find a way of bringing over the Hindus still 
stranded there. I told him that I was doing all that a single 
individual could do. The Government was trying to do some- 
thing but it was not easy because one Government should not 
interfere in the affairs of another. I have said it before and 
I say it again that what is required at the present juncture is 
patience. We should not fear death. We must fear dishonour 
and indignity. To save one’s honour one must lay down one’s 
life. If someone is asked to embrace Islam or be prepared to 
die, he must choose death. Death is inevitable and cannot be 
avoided for ever. This of course does not mean that we should 
not do what we can to save ourselves but our ultimate trust 
should be in God. 

A refugee came to see me today. He was not a beggar, 
nor a poor man. He has known prosperity. He lives in a bun- 
galow nearby. The bungalow belonged to a Muslim who ran 
away. The refugee friend was a friend of that Muslim. He 
comes from the place where the Muslim has gone to settle. He 
told him to go and live in his bungalow. Now he says he has 
received a notice from the Government asking him to vacate 
the bungalow which is required for public purposes. I have no 
doubt that the Government would requisition the house. There 
are many people, ambassadors and others coming from out- 
side and the Government would want to provide them proper 
accommodation. After all the Government cannot put up new 
houses by magic. It is said that sages had this power in for- 
mer times. It is related in the Ramayana how the sage Bhara- 
dwaja had made a whole city appear from nowhere with the 
power of his mantra. Today I know of no such mantra. I therefore 
can understand it if the Government requisitions houses when it 
wants them but it should then provide alternative accommodation 
to the people living there. If the Government just pushes out the 
occupants, where are they to go ? I am sure the Government can- 
not act thus. But if such a notice has been received I cannot 
really hold out any assurance of help. I myself do not have a 
house of my own. I am living in another’s house. The affected 
person should approach the Government. I still think that what 
he says is not correct but if it is, it is a painful matter. I know 
that anyone lawfully residing in a house cannot be served with 
such a notice. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


393 


I have several other letters. A correspondent attributes to 
me the statement that in Bombay everyone was allowed to draw 
one seer of rice per day as his rationed quota. So far as I re- 
member I never said this. In the present conditions of scarcity 
one seer of rice per day per head would be too liberal an al- 
lowance. Still I shall see what I had said.’ He says the quota is 
a quarter seer per head, per day. This means one seer in four 

days. This is not too bad. But in fact I recollect it was only 

one seer in seven days. But if I had said that the allowance was 
one seer per head per day it should be taken as incorrect. 

There are so many notes and letters that I find it difficult 
to decide which one to take up. One says that I am staying here 
in Birla House where poor people cannot enter; formerly when 
I was in Bhangi Colony poor people could approach me. What 
he says is true and I like it. I think I had referred to this the 

first time I came here.^ I came here at a time when Delhi 

was in the grip of communal rioting. The town looked like a 
graveyard. Bhangi Colony had also become crowded with refugees 
and it was feared that anything might happen anywhere. So the 
Sardar said that he would not allow me to live there. So they 
moved me to Birla House. I did not object because after all I 
cannot make do with a room. There had to be an office and 
a kitchen, and moreover there are many people living with me. 
Here I am also within easy reach of the ministers. They do not 
send for me. They themselves come to me. It is their kindness. 
It takes them only two minutes to come here. It took them 10 
to 16 minutes to go to Bhangi Colony. The Muslim brethren 
also find it easy to come here while they are scared of going to 
Bhangi Colony. It will be a great thing if we can save such of 
them as are left. Today goondaism rules the streets. Anyone 
going on a bicycle is pulled down and his money or watch is 
snatched away. Even those travelling in cars are stopped and 
looted. Such is our present plight. It is a matter of great shame. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 283-5 


’ Vide p. 328. 

2 Vide Vol. LXXXIX, pp. 167-8. 



371. LETTER TO VIJATA M. PANCHOLI 

January 9, 1948 

CHI. VIJAYA, 

It is after a long time that you seem to have found occasion 
to write to me. I often think of you. 

The answer to your question is the verse which we sing 
every day at the morning prayer. The prayer, in its entirety, 
is meant not only to be recited but to be acted upon. This is 
what the verse means; “Our misfortunes are not real misfortunes, 
nor are our good fortunes so in fact. Real misfortune is the for- 
getting of Vishnu, and the highest wealth consists in constantly 
thinking of Him and trying to see Him in one’s heart.” Think 
over this and shed your weakness. Why need one who feels 
Rama in his heart, bemoan massacres or lose his reason because 
of them? And, moreover, what about the inhuman conduct we 
were guilty of on our side? Hence did Narasimha sing: “Let 
not thy mind be affected by suffering or happiness, for they were 
created with the body.” Think over this. I don’t like your 
being weak. You should go to Panchgani. Accommodation is 
available there now. Uruli also is a fine place. You should find 
some time for rest. 

Nanabhai must have received my letter.’ 

I have written this letter in great hurry, having put off go- 
ing to bed for a while. 

Look after the children with great care. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 7154. Also C. W. 4646. 
Courtesy: Vijaya M. Pancholi 


’ Vide p. 361. 


394 



372. LETTER TO SHARDA H. KOTAK 


January 10, 1948 

CHI. SHARDA, 

Harjivan having passed away, your highest good lies in 
acknowledging your faults when they are pointed out by others. One 
may only praise the departed for his good qualities. How can 
Dada' realize that even when I was finding fault with you I was 
only admiring your good qualities ? However, irrespective of what 
I did or did not tell him let me tell you one thing, that I 
greatly appreciate your strength of character, and as for Harjivan 
he was simply devoted to you. He believed that whatever brahma- 
charya he could observe he did with the help of your strength 
of character. He did not look upon it as a great achievement 
on his part. It was therefore you who succumbed to his en- 
treaties. Thus you fell and brought him down with you. If 
you never had any respect for brahmackarya, raising a family would 
have been regarded as the normal thing for you as for anyone 
else. Only he can fall who has risen high. I write all this so 
that you can be strong in future and may not feel dejected. You 
should now devote yourself cheerfully to your own work and 
your own dharma, and conduct yourself as Dada advises. 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


373. LETTER TO GANGADHARRAO DESHPANDE 

January 10, 1948 

BHAI GANGADHARRAO, 

1 have your letter. I have always believed in the unifica- 
tion of Karnataka and have loved the idea. I interpret Panditji’s 
statement^ only to mean that the Central Government cannot 

* Lakshmidas Asar 

2 Replying to a question on November 27, 1947, in the Parliament, 
Jawaharlal Nehru said that “the creation of the provinces of Maharashtra and 
Karnataka raised greater difficulties, as any marked change would probably 
affect the structure and economy of the provinces concerned. It must be 
remembered that creation of new provinces would require careful consideration 
in all its bearings, so that any decision taken would be acceptable to the neigh- 
bouring provinces concerned. Every decision must be considered from the 
point of view of the country as a whole.” 


395 



396 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


take the initiative in determining the boundary. But if the con- 
cerned provinces reach a mutual understanding and ask for the 
Centre’s approval, there will be no harm in it. I am keeping 
well. 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


374. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 

New Delhi, 
January 10, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

It is shocking to see how we have fallen today. Those who 
pretend to be sadhus and boast of self-control and their recitation 
of the Gita, show no self-control at all.' But generally these days 
the prayer meetings are quiet and well-ordered, which is a good 
thing. 

I had been warned that the Bahawalpur refugees would 
create a disturbance today and would keep on shouting through 
the meeting.^ I said it could not be true. I know their sufferings. 
I assure them that all the Hindus and Sikhs stranded there will 
be brought over. The Nawab has given the assurance — although 
I do not know how much one can depend on the assurances 
of Rajas and Nawabs — that from now on Hindus and Sikhs 
there will not be subjected to any harassment, that those who 
want to leave will be allowed to leave under proper arrange- 
ments and those remaining will not be asked to embrace Islam. 
It may be that they are all safe there. The Government too 
are seized of the matter. You may demand that they should 
be brought over right now. But you must understand that, 
though formerly we were one country, we are now two coun- 
tries and enemies of each other. We try to do what we can. 
There are seventy thousand Hindus and Sikhs there. In Sind 
the number is much larger. They are not safe there. I have 
a telegram from Karachi which says that the situation is 

' A man wearing a saffron robe had got up and insisted on reading 
out his letter to Gandhiji. It was with great difficulty that he was made to 
sit down. 

^ As Gandhiji walked to the prayer ground, the refugees from Bahawal- 
pur staged a demonstration and shouted slogans asking for help for the 
70,000 Hindus and Sikhs stranded there. They became perfectly peaceful 
when Gandhiji sat down for prayers. 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


397 


much worse than it was described in the newspapers and that 
the damage done was much greater. The times are such that 
we must maintain the utmost self-possession and patience. If we 
lose patience we shall lose the battle. Defeat is a word that 
should find no place in our dictionary. For this it is necessary 
not to be provoked into anger. We have to think calmly what 
we must do. 

Today the Iranian Ambassador came to see me. He is a 
guest of the Government. He said, “Iran and India have 
always been friends. Both Iranians and Indians come of Aryan 
stock.” He is right. If we look at the Zfind Avesta, we shall find 
many Sanskrit words in it. We have also had dealings with 
each other. The Ambassador said that India was the largest 
nation in Asia and that Iran sincerely wanted friendship with 
India. Gurudev' had once paid a visit to Iran and he was very 
satisfied with the visit. The Ambassador told me that the rela- 
tions between Iran and India ought not to be allowed to de- 
teriorate. I asked him how that could be. Then he referred to 
an incident involving an Iranian in Bombay. There are many 
Iranians in Bombay. They run tea-shops there, which are visit- 
ed by large numbers of Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Christians. 
There seems to have been some rioting there. I do not know 
anything about it. I am told some Iranians were killed. Iranians 
are after all Muslims. So the rioters must have decided that it 
was quite all right to kill them. I asked him if he had any 
complaint to make about the way the Government handled the 
situation. He said he had none and that the Government had 
quickly brought the situation under control. He says the Govern- 
ment here too is good, that it has posted armed guards for the 
protection of the Muslims who are here. He says in Iran Hindu, 
Sikh and Muslim traders lived together in amity. Exaggerated 
reports from India are always going there. What may happen 
in future nobody knows. But the Government in Iran is keeping 
itself vigilant, and it does not want to weaken its friendship 
with India for whatever cause. 

I still have two minutes, so I take up a letter. The corres- 
pondent says that, though some people are happy that the 
controls on articles of food have been lifted, he would like to 
warn me that lifting of controls has not been a very good thing 
and that I have only been getting one-sided information. But 
when I receive so many wires and letters congratulating me, what 


' Rabindranath Tagore 



398 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


am I to say? I cannot reject them saying that they present 
only one view. I cannot know the opinions of all and I cannot 
see everything that is happening in the world because I am not 
gifted with divine sight. The millions of people in India are my 
eyes and ears, hands and feet. I also want to know the other 
side. Do not believe in anything simply because I say it. Be- 
lieve only what your eyes see. You will learn from your mistakes. 
Do what appears to you right. Only then will you be able to 
keep your freedom and deserve it. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 285-7 


375. “URDU HARIJAN^’ 

Two weeks ago I hinted in the Gujarati columns that the 
Harijan printed in the Urdu script was likely to be stopped as its 
sale was steadily dwindling. Apart even from financial consider- 
ations, I saw no meaning in publishing it, if there was no 
demand for it. The dwindle to me was a sign of resentment 
against its publication. I would be foolish if I failed to profit 
by it. 

My view remains unalterable especially at this critical junc- 
ture in our history. It is wrong to ruffle Muslim or any other 
person’s feeling when there is no question of ethics. Those who 
take the trouble of learning the Urdu script in addition to 
the Nagari, will surely lose nothing. They will gain a know- 
ledge of the Urdu script, which many of our countrymen 
know. If it was not for cussedness, this proposition will be ad- 
mitted without any argument. The limitations of this script in 
terms of perfection are many. But for elegance and grace it will 
equal any script in the world. It will not die so long at least 
as Arabic and Persian live, though it has achieved a status all 
its own without outside aid. With a little adaptation it can serve 
the purpose of shorthand. As a national script, if it is set free 
from the bondage of orthodoxy, it is capable of improvement 
so as to enable one to transcribe Sanskrit verses without the 
slightest difficulty. 

Lastly, those who in anger boycott the Urdu script, put a 
wanton affront upon the Muslims of the Union who, in the eyes 
of many Hindus, have become aliens in their own land. This 
is copying the bad manners of Pakistan with a vengeance. I 
invite every inhabitant of India to join me in a stern refusal 



HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS 


399 


to copy bad manners. If they will enter the heart of what I have 
written, they will prevent the impending collapse of the Nagari and 
Urdu editions of the Harijan. Will Muslim friends rise to the 
occasion and do two things — subscribe to the Urdu edition and dili- 
gently learn the Nagari script and enrich their intellectual capital ? 

New Delhi, January 11, 1948 
Harijan, 18-1-1948 

376. HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS 

A valued correspondent has written to me two letters, one 
issuing a timely warning about the ill effects of hasty decontrol 
and the other about the possibility of an outbreak of Hindu- 
Muslim riots. I have dealt with both the letters in a letter 
which has become unexpectedly argumentative and gives my 
view of democracy which can only come out of non-violent mass 
action. I, therefore, reproduce the letter below without giving 
at the same time the letters to which it is in answer. There is 
enough in the answer to enable the reader to know the purport 
of the two letters. I have purposely refrained from giving the 
name of my correspondent and the scene of action, not because 
the letters are confidential, but because nothing is to be gained 
from disclosing either: 

You still write as if you had the slave mind, though 
the slavery of us all is abolished. If decontrol has produced 
the effect you attribute to it, you should raise your voice, 
even though you may be alone in doing so and your voice 
may be feeble. As a matter of fact you have many compa- 
nions and your voice is by no means feeble unless intoxi- 
cation of power has enfeebled it. Personally, the bogey of 
the shooting up of prices by reason of decontrol does not 
frighten me. If we have many sharks and we do not know 
how to combat them, we shall deserve to be eaten up by 
them. Then we shall know how to carry ourselves in the 
teeth of adversity. Real democracy people learn not from 
books, not from the government who are in name and in 
reality their servants. Hard experience is the most efficient 
teacher in democracy. The days of appeals to me are gone. 
The cloak of non-violence which we had put on during the 
British regime is no longer now necessary. Therefore, vio- 
lence faces us in its terrible nakedness. Have you also suc- 
cumbed or you too never had non-violence? This letter is 



400 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


not to warn you against writing to me and giving me your 
view of the picture, but it is intended to tell you why I 
would swear by decontrol even if mine was a solitary voice. 

Your second letter about Hindu-Muslim tension is more 
to the point than the first. Here too you should raise your 
voice openly against any soft handling of the situation or smug 
satisfaction. I shall do my part but I am painfully conscious 
of my limitations. Formerly I could afford to be the monarch 
of all I surveyed. Today I have many fellow-monarchs, if I 
may still count myself as such. If I can, I am the least among 
them. The first days of democracy are discordant notes which 
jar on the ear and give you many headaches. If democracy 
is to live in spite of these killing notes, sweet concord has to 
rise out of this seemingly discordant necessary lesson. How 
I wish that you would be one of the masters who would 
contribute to the production of concord out of discord! 

You will not make the mistake of thinking that your 
duty is finished when you have apprised me of the situation 
in your part of the country. 

New Delhi, January 11, 1948 
Harijan, 18-1-1948 

377. HOW TO INCREASE YIELDS? 

Bhai Harilal Bawabhai Patel of Gram Dakshinamurty writes:* 
There is nothing new in Bhai Harilal’s suggestion. Never- 
theless, those who hold the reins of the country are no farmers. 
So what has been said above can be of help. Let us find time 
from political activities and engage ourselves in constructive work, 
give proper importance to agricultural reforms, teach the farmers 
as much as possible and learn from them what we can. 

If we use farmyard manure or compost it is not necessary to keep 
the fields fallow. This manure keeps the soil ever fresh. It also does 
not have to be carried from place to place. After a little experience, 
such manure can be produced in every village. But these things 
cannot be done mechanically. Let us glean what knowledge we 
can find in writings such as above and provide right education to the 
farmers by carrying on original experiments, and thus benefit them. 
New Delhi, January 11, 1948 
[From Gujarati] 

Harijanbandhu, 18-1-1948 

* The letter is not translated here. 



378. A NOTE 


Sunday, January 11, 1948 

All natural remedies, i. e., the use of water, air, light, earth 
and the open sky are to he included. The book will tell people 
how to keep well and be stronger by the adoption of the na- 
tural laws. 

From a photostat: G. N. 7833. Also C. W. 4197. Courtesy: Amrit Kaur 


379. LETTER TO PRABHAKAR 

January 11, 1948 

CHI. PRABHAKAR, 

I have your letter. What point have I not answered? 

It was not good that the man died; but he was released 
and it has been a test for us. 

I do not like the idea of leaving out the Sanskrit shlokas. 
I see no need for the reading to be done in English. Have . . .* 
translated into Hindi and read it. 

Blessings from 
Bapu 

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 9042. Also C. W. 9166. Courtesy : 
Prabhakar 


One word is illegible here. 


90-26 


401 



380. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

January 11, 1948 

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, 

Only yesterday I complimented you on the calm you main- 
tained in the meeting. But if boys and girls continue to whisper 
or if women bring children who cry it is not good education for 
them.* If they cannot keep the children quiet they should not 
bring them to the meeting. I shall request all my brothers and 
sisters to have the decency to keep quiet and also to keep the 
children quiet. Continuous conversation during prayer obstructs 
it. They should realize that God is omnipotent and omnipresent. 
He hears everything. We must not abuse His silence and 
mercy. 

I have to refer to a painful matter. It concerns Andhra. I 
have two letters from Andhra. One of them is from an elderly 
gentleman^ whom I know and who does not write as a rule. The 
other is from a young man whom I do not know. There is no 
use telling you the names because you do not know them. Both 
say that after August 15, all fear has vanished from people’s 
minds. The British who were feared are gone. There is no fear 
of punishment and also no fear of God. In Andhra people 
are of robust health and when they feel that they are free 
they lose all self-control. Now they do nothing but what will 
further their self-interest. One of the correspondents bewails 
the fact that all the sacrifices made by the Congress to see 
India free has resulted in this. The Congress today is falling. 
Everyone in the Congress today wants to become an M. L. A. 
Those who succeed do not work for the country but only for 
themselves. An M. L. A. gets quite a sizable salary — I do not 
recollect how much — but it is quite adequate for one’s neces- 
sities. The correspondent says that the M. L. A.s nevertheless are 
corrupt and they harass civil servants and try to browbeat them 
into doing their bidding. In this way both suffer morally — 

* It being a Sunday, a large number of people attended the prayer 
meeting. 

^ Konda Venkatappayya; vide pp. 405 and 410-1. 


402 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


403 


civil servants as well as those who call themselves our repre- 
sentatives. The elder correspondent suggests that I should go and 
live in Andhra and see how things are. But I have lived not 
only among Andhras but among all classes of people. To me 
people of every province are Indians even if they speak different 
languages. If someone says that he belongs to Andhra and has 
nothing to do with the rest of the country, I too shall have 
nothing to do with him. He says the rot is spreading amongst 
us. The more people we return to the assemblies, the greater 
the amount of filth. The fewer there are the less filth there will 
be. He therefore suggests that we should reduce the number of 
M. L. A.s because they do not in any case represent the people. 
They go into the assemblies to serve their self-interest. They even 
try to capture the Congress. Then there are others who call 
themselves Communists or Socialists. They also feel all-important 
and talk about capturing the whole of India. But who will 
control India? Socialists and Communists and Congressmen are 
all Indians. Let us not say that India is ours. Let us rather 
say that we belong to India. If we make India our own, we 
must do so not to further our self-interest, not to enrich our 
relatives or to provide them jobs but to serve. 

The women are talking. This is very bad. If you must 
talk, then come to the dais and make a speech from here. 
Maybe they do not hear a word of what I am saying. They 
do not come here to listen. They come here because they have 
nothing else to do. 

A few Muslims came to see me today. They say they have 
been and still are nationalist Muslims and Congressmen. They 
say formerly Congressmen had great regard for them but now 
they have fallen in their eyes. If the Congressmen think so little 
of them, they should ask them to go and they will go. Let the 
Government say so, too. In that way they will be spared the 
assaults and the humiliation that are their lot. Those who met 
me did not speak only for themselves. They represented all 
the Muslims. I advised them to keep calm and assured them 
that the Government was doing all it could. We would see 
what to do if it failed. Today we must forget that we are Hin- 
dus or Sikhs or Muslims or Parsis. If we want to conduct the 
affairs of India properly we must be only Indians. It is of no 
consequence by what name we call God in our homes. In the 
work of the nation, all Indians of all faiths are one. If Hindus 
say that they will kill Muslims or will not permit them to live 
in India they will be committing suicide and the Muslims will 



404 


THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 


be spared the trouble of killing the Hindus. We cannot commit 
suicide. We are Indians and we must lay down our lives in 
protecting Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs and all others. 

[From Hindi] 

Courtesy: All India Radio. Also Prarthana Pravachan — II, pp. 288-90 


381. RACING AND BETTING 

A correspondent from Madras writes a pathetic letter on the 
subject of betting on the race-course and holds that the two go 
together. If betting went, horse-racing probably would fall flat. 
It is wholly unnecessary for the sake of the love of horse flesh 
to have horse races and all their attendant excitement. They 
pander to the vices of humanity and mean a waste of good 
cultivable soil and good money. Who has not witnessed as I 
have, the ruin of fine men caused by the gamble on the race- 
courses? It is time to leave alone the vices of the West and to 
strive to adopt the best that it has to give. 

New Delhi, January 12, 1948 
Harijan, 18-1-1948 

382. THE LATE TOTARAM SANADHTA 

Totaramji has passed away at a ripe old age without re- 
quiring any nursing. He was a jewel of the Sabarmati Ashram. 
Though not a scholar, he had wisdom. He had a treasure of 
devotional songs and yet he was not an accomplished singer. 
He used to delight the Ashram by his ektarT and his devotional 
songs. His wife was exactly like him. She departed before 
Totaramji. 

Where people live in groups there are bound to be some 
conflicts. I do not remember any occasion when this couple 
might have been a party to any such conflict or the cause of 
one. Totaramji loved the soil. Farming was his very life. He 
came to the Ashram years ago and never left it. Men and 
women, young and old, always sought his guidance. He brought 
unfailing solace to them. 

He was an orthodox Hindu. But, he held Hindus, Mus- 
lims and people of other religions in equal regard. There was 

* A one-stringed instrument 



LETTER TO KONDA VENKATAPPAYYA 405 

no trace of the feeling of untouchability in him. He had no 
vices. 

He never took part in politics, and yet his love for the 
country was so great that it could be compared with the best 
of its kind. Renunciation came to him naturally. He added 
lustre to it. 

This good man had gone to Fiji as an indentured labourer. 
He was the discovery of Deenabandhu Andrews. The credit 
for having brought him to the Ashram goes to Benarsidas 
Chaturvedi. 

Till the end of his life it was Amina, Ghulam Rasool 
Qureshi’s wife and Imam Saheb’s daughter, who rendered him 
what service she could. 

“Great men live for others” was literally true in the case 
of Totaramji. 

New Delhi, January 12, 1948 
[From Gujarati] 

Harijanbandku, 18-1-1948 

383. LETTER TO KONDA VENKATAPPATTA 

New Delhi, 
January 12, 1948 

DEAR DESHABHAKTA, 

It is refreshing to get a fairly long letter from you. I referred 
to it yesterday in my prayer speech.* What you say is too 
shocking for words. ^ I cannot move out of Delhi. 

Love. 

Bapu 

From a photostat: G.N. 3233 


* Vide pp. 402-3. 
^ Vide pp. 410-1. 



384. LETTER TO PARTHASARATHT 


New Delhi, 

January 12, 1948 


DEAR PARTHASARATHY, 

Go on as you are doing calmly, patiently and politely. 

Tours, 

M. K. Gandhi 

From a copy: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


385. LETTER TO SHARD A G. CHOKHAWALA 

January 12, 1948 

CHI. BABUDI, 

I have your letter. I should like you not to lose your 
peace of mind even when nearing death. He or she who has 
Rama in his or her heart even while lying on sick-bed is in 
fact serving the people. Goodwill for others is in itself a form 
of service. To such a person life and death are the same thing. 
I want you to cultivate such a state of mind. 

The rest Sushila will write. 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

From the Gujarati original: C. W. 10083. Courtesy: Sharda G. Chokha- 
wala 


406 



386. LETTER TO SARAITA 


New Delhi, 

January 12, 1948 


BHAI SARAIYA, 

In your article you seem to have missed the point alto- 
gether or I have failed to understand it. If a single new coin 
is offered in exchange for three rupees, don’t you think it shows 
an utterly absurd situation? 

What can we say about the innocent? 

Blessings from 

Bapu 

SwASTiK Court 
Queen’s Road 
Band Stand 
Bombay 

From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


387. LETTER TO KEDARNATH SAHNI 

New Delhi, 

January 12, 1948 

BHAI KEDARNATH, 

I got your letter. Your wife has departed in peace. Hence, 
there can be no cause for grief. Anyway, the body is destined 
to perish some day or the other, some now, some later. 

It was almost impossible for me to go there yesterday, it 
was sufficient that Dr. Sushila went. 

Blessings from 

M. K. Gandhi 

Kedarnath Sahni 

Magistrate 

Karnal 

From a copy of the Hindi: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 


407 



388. SPEECH AT PRATER MEETING 


New Delhi, 

January 12, 1948 

One fasts for health’s sake under laws governing health or 
fasts as a penance for a wrong done and felt as such. In these 
fasts, the fasting one need not believe in ahimsa. There is, how- 
ever, a fast which a votary of non-violence sometimes feels im- 
pelled to undertake by way of protest against some wrong done 
by society and this he does when he, as a votary of ahimsa, has 
no other remedy left. 

Such an occasion has come my way. When on September 9 
I returned to Delhi from Calcutta, I was to proceed to West 
Punjab. But that was not to be. Gay Delhi looked a city of 
the dead. As I alighted from the train I observed gloom on 
every face. I saw even the Sardar, whom humour and the joy 
that humour gives never desert, was no exception this time. 

The cause of it I did not know. He was on the platform 
to receive me. He lost no time in giving me the sad news of 
the disturbances that had taken place in the metropolis of the 
Union. At once I saw that I had to be in Delhi and do or die. 

There is apparent calm brought about by prompt military 
and police action. But there is storm within the breast. It may 
burst forth any day. This I count as no fulfilment of the vow 
to “do” which alone can keep me from death, the incomparable 
friend. I yearn for heart friendship between Hindus, Sikhs and 
Muslims. It subsisted between them the other day. Today it is 
non-existent. It is a state that no Indian patriot worthy of the 
name can contemplate with equanimity. 

Though the voice within has been beckoning for a long 
time, I have been shutting my ears to it lest it might be the 
voice of Satan, otherwise called my weakness. I never like to 
feel resourceless; a satyagrahi never should. Fasting is his last 
resort in the place of the sword — his or others. 

I have no answer to return to the Muslim friends who see 
me from day to day as to what they should do. My impotence 
has been gnawing at me of late. It will go immediately the 

’ As Gandhiji was observing silence, his speech written in English was 
translated into Hindi and read out after the prayers. 

408 



SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING 


409 


fast is undertaken. I have been brooding over it for the last 
three days. The final conclusion has flashed upon me and it 
makes me happy.* No man, if he is pure, has anything more 
precious to give than his life. I hope and pray that I have 
that purity in me to justify the step. I ask you all to bless the 
effort and to pray for me and with me. 

The fast begins from the first meal tomorrow (Tuesday). The 
period is indefinite and I may drink water with or without salts 
and sour limes. It will end when and if I am satisfied that there 
is a reunion of hearts of all communities brought about without 
any outside pressure, but from an awakened sense of duty. 

The reward will be the regaining of India’s dwindling pres- 
tige and her fast-fading sovereignty over the heart of Asia and 
therethrough the world. I flatter myself with the belief that 
the loss of her soul by India will mean the loss of the hope of 
the aching, storm-tossed and hungry world. Let no friend or 
foe, if there be one, be angry with me. There are friends who 
do not believe in the method of the fast for reclamation of the 
human mind. They will bear with me and extend to me the 
same liberty of action that they